CME expands crypto derivatives with XRP and Solana futures
CME Group has introduced spot-quoted futures contracts for XRP and Solana, marking another step in the traditional finance giant’s crypto expansion. The new contracts follow the same structure as CME’s existing spot-quoted Bitcoin and Ether futures, which launched back in June.
What makes these different from traditional futures? Well, regular futures contracts often trade at a premium or discount because of financing costs. These new ones track the spot price directly instead. The financing adjustments get handled separately at settlement time. It’s a bit cleaner, I think, for traders who want exposure without the usual complications.
Smaller contracts for active traders
Giovanni Vicioso, CME’s Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products, mentioned in their press release that these are actually CME’s smallest crypto contracts to date. They’re aimed at active participants who prefer trading in spot market terms. The idea is to avoid managing contract expiries or rollovers, which can be a headache for some traders.
“We’ve seen strong demand for our current spot-quoted Bitcoin and Ether futures,” Vicioso said. “More than 1.3 million contracts traded since June, and we’re pleased to add XRP and SOL to our offering.”
The numbers back that up. Since launching in June, those Bitcoin and Ether contracts have averaged about 11,300 contracts daily. There was even a record day on November 24th with 60,700 contracts traded. That’s not nothing.
Trading at Settlement feature activated
Alongside the new futures, CME has also activated Trading at Settlement (TAS) for XRP, SOL, and their respective Micro futures. This feature lets traders execute futures contracts at a spread to the 4:00 p.m. ET settlement price before that price is actually known.
TAS gets used quite a bit for managing risk around crypto ETFs, especially during net asset value creation or redemption periods. It also allows for block trades and anonymous order book activity through CME Globex. That gives traders more flexibility in how and when they execute their trades.
The contracts are listed on both CME and CBOT exchanges. They’re available alongside major equity index futures, which makes sense given CME’s traditional finance roots.
Building on recent crypto moves
This expansion isn’t coming out of nowhere. Back in October, CME Group started letting users trade options on SOL, Micro SOL, XRP, and Micro XRP futures. Those options came with daily, monthly, and quarterly expiries.
It feels like CME is gradually building out its crypto offerings piece by piece. They started with Bitcoin and Ether, then added options, and now they’re expanding to more altcoins. The spot-quoted approach seems to be working for them, at least based on the trading volume they’re reporting.
I’m curious to see how these new contracts perform. XRP and Solana have their own distinct communities and trading patterns. The smaller contract sizes might attract different types of traders than the Bitcoin and Ether products did.
What’s interesting to me is how traditional finance institutions like CME are finding their footing in crypto. They’re not rushing everything at once, but rather testing the waters with different products. The spot-quoted structure appears to be their answer to making crypto derivatives more accessible to traders who are used to spot markets.
We’ll have to wait and see if the demand materializes. The Bitcoin and Ether versions seem to have found an audience, but crypto markets can be unpredictable. Still, it’s another sign of institutional infrastructure developing around digital assets.
