$ETH: CME Group Shows Impeccable Timing With Launch of Its Options on Ether Futures

On Thursday (August 18), the world’s leading derivatives marketplace CME Group announced that it “plans to launch options on Ether futures on September 12, pending regulatory review.”

On 12 November 2019, CME Group (“CME”), which owns “large derivatives, options and futures exchanges in Chicago and New York City using its CME Globex trading platforms”, announced that options on its Bitcoin futures contracts would be launching on 13 January 2020.

Well, now, it appears that CME Group has a new similar product for Ethereum.

According to CME’s press release, the new contracts “deliver one ether futures, sized at 50 ether per contract, and based on the CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate, which serves as a once-a-day reference rate of the U.S. dollar price of Ether.” They serve to “expand CME Group’s existing suite of Cryptocurrency options contracts, which include Bitcoin options, as well as micro-sized Bitcoin and Ether options.”

Tim McCourt, Global Head of Equity and FX Products at CME Group, had this to say:

“The launch of these new options contracts builds on the significant growth and deep liquidity we have seen in our existing Ether futures, which have traded more than 1.8 million contracts to date. As we approach the highly anticipated Ethereum Merge next month, we continue to see market participants turn to CME Group to manage ether price risk. Our new Ether options will offer a wide array of clients greater flexibility and added precision to manage their ether exposure ahead of market moving events.“

And Ryan Duckworth, Senior Trader at Akuna Capital, added:

“Akuna is excited to support the launch of Ether options from CME Group. As the demand for crypto derivatives increases, we look forward to providing liquidity to allow customers to hedge risk and manage exposure to ether.“

This new product should help Ethereum traders “to save on margins, through margin offsets” and reduces “risk of counterparty default through central clearing.”

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