CME Group Launches $BTC And $ETH Euro Futures Contracts

CME Group, the largest derivatives marketplace in the world, is expanding its crypto contract reach beyond the shores of the dollar. The derivatives marketplace finally launched its EUR-denominated BTC and ETH futures contracts.

BTC and ETH EUR contracts are already live on the platform

CME Group announced the update on its official website on Monday. A quick tour on its platform showed that the marketplace had already integrated the change. Per the press release, the EUR-denominated BTC futures contract will come with a size of 5 BTC per contract. On the other hand, the ETH Euro contract will have 50 ETH per contract.

According to CME Group, the contracts will have a cash settlement feature, instead of settlements with the underlying assets. Additionally, CME Group will base the contracts on the CME CF Bitcoin-EUR Reference Rate (BTCEUR_RR) and the CME CF Ether-EUR Reference Rate (ETHEUR_RR). These reference rates get cryptocurrency data from top exchanges with a calculation window of 3-4 PM London Time.

Speaking on the development, Tim McCourt, Global Head of Equity and FX Products at CME Group said,

The launch of these new futures contracts builds on the strong growth and deep liquidity we have seen in our existing U.S. dollar-denominated Bitcoin and Ether futures contracts.

He further noted that the contracts will be available to institutional clients in and outside the U.S.

CME Group has been expanding its crypto futures contracts

CME Group has been expanding its BTC and ETH futures contracts to accommodate more options. In December of last year, the derivatives platform launched MET—its Micro Ether futures. The MET futures contract came with a size of 1/10 ETH per contract. It was CME Group’s attempt at providing its clients with a cost-effective exposure to Ethereum.

The launch of the MET contract came 7 months after CME Group had launched the Micro BTC Futures. In May 2021, the platform launched the Micro Bitcoin Futures which had a size of 1/10 BTC per contract. The platform has since then continuously expanded its offerings. Nonetheless, all the crypto asset futures contracts were USD-denominated, until now.

On August 4, CME Group announced that it would be launching the EUR-denominated BTC and ETH contracts on August 29. The firm has kept to its word. On August 18, It also announced a planned launch of Ether futures options on September 12. The platform noted that it was awaiting regulatory review.