Share this article

CME to Launch Micro Bitcoin Futures in May

CME's micro futures contract will provide institutions and individual traders one more tool to hedge their spot market risks.

Updated Sep 14, 2021, 12:33 p.m. Published Mar 30, 2021, 12:50 p.m.
jwp-player-placeholder

Derivatives exchange Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) will launch smaller-sized bitcoin futures contracts in May, potentially expanding the number of people who bet on the future price of the leading cryptocurrency.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters

  • In an announcement on Tuesday, the CME said the new contracts sized at one-tenth of one bitcoin will be available for trading on May 3 and will be cash-settled based on the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate.
  • "The introduction of Micro Bitcoin futures responds directly to demand for smaller-sized contracts from a broad array of clients and will offer even more choice and precision in how participants can trade regulated bitcoin futures in a transparent and efficient manner at CME Group," Tim Court, CME Group global head of Equity Index and Alternative Investment Products, said in a press release.
  • The micro futures will offer features and benefits of CME Group's standard bitcoin futures, launched in 2017.
  • The CME climbed ranks in the second half of 2020 and became the biggest bitcoin futures exchange as per open interest by the end of December, in a sign of increased institutional participation. Recently, the exchange has slipped to the number four spot.
  • A futures contract is a standardized legal agreement to buy or sell something at a predetermined price at a specified time in the future.

More For You

Pudgy Penguins: A New Blueprint for Tokenized Culture

Pudgy Title Image

Pudgy Penguins is building a multi-vertical consumer IP platform — combining phygital products, games, NFTs and PENGU to monetize culture at scale.

What to know:

Pudgy Penguins is emerging as one of the strongest NFT-native brands of this cycle, shifting from speculative “digital luxury goods” into a multi-vertical consumer IP platform. Its strategy is to acquire users through mainstream channels first; toys, retail partnerships and viral media, then onboard them into Web3 through games, NFTs and the PENGU token.

The ecosystem now spans phygital products (> $13M retail sales and >1M units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party surpassed 500k downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to 6M+ wallets). While the market is currently pricing Pudgy at a premium relative to traditional IP peers, sustained success depends on execution across retail expansion, gaming adoption and deeper token utility.

More For You

Bitcoin climbs above $89,000 as U.S. dollar tumbles on President Trump's remarks

Donald Trump points at the audience during a press conference at the White House.

The president said he isn't concerned about the dollar's recent declines, sending the greenback plunging even lower.

What to know:

  • Bitcoin rallied above $89,000 as remarks by President Trump sent the dollar to its lowest level in nearly four years.
  • Gold rose to a new record above $5,200 per ounce following the president's comments.
  • One analyst is seeing a bullish technical divergence which could send bitcoin back to $95,000 in short order.