CME Group to launch Nasdaq crypto index futures covering Bitcoin, Ether, XRP as daily volumes surge 43% this year
CME and Nasdaq aim to simplify crypto trading with a new index-based futures product.
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Add us on Google by Vivian Nguyen May. 14, 2026CME Group and Nasdaq are launching crypto index futures, with trading scheduled to begin on June 8 pending regulatory approval. The Nasdaq CME Crypto Index futures will be CME’s first market-cap weighted futures contract in digital assets.
Rather than buying individual Bitcoin or Ether futures, institutional investors will be able to trade a single contract that tracks the seven largest crypto assets by market capitalization. The basket currently includes Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Solana, Cardano, Chainlink, and Stellar Lumens.
CME’s crypto derivatives growth
CME’s average daily trading volume hit 407,200 contracts in early 2026, a 46% jump from the prior year. Year-to-date volumes across the entire crypto suite are up 43%. Giovanni Vicioso, who leads crypto products at CME, said demand for regulated crypto futures is on the rise.
“Building on our long-standing partnership, our new Nasdaq CME Crypto Index futures will offer clients a regulated, cost-effective and convenient way to hedge or gain broad-based exposure to the overall crypto market,” Vicioso stated.
In 2025, CME’s crypto complex averaged 270,900 contracts per day, roughly $12 billion in notional value changing hands daily. That was a 132% surge from the year before. Last November, the exchange hit a single-day record of nearly 795,000 contracts.
Contract structure
Both micro-sized and large-sized contracts will be available. The contracts are financially settled, meaning no one takes delivery of crypto. They pay out in cash based on the Nasdaq CME Crypto Settlement Price Index at expiration.
Nasdaq stated the index was built to support transparent, governance-driven benchmarks for digital assets.
“As investor participation in cryptocurrencies continues to evolve, there is growing demand for benchmarks that reflect the broader market and are built with the same governance and transparency investors expect in other asset classes,” Sean Wasserman, Head of Index Product Management at Nasdaq, noted. “The Nasdaq CME Crypto Index was designed to serve as that foundation, and the introduction of futures linked to the index is a natural extension of how index-based frameworks support market development over time.”
CME has steadily added products tied to digital assets to capture that demand. CME listed its first Bitcoin futures contract in December 2017. Its product lineup now covers assets representing over 75% of the total crypto market cap.
Ether futures arrived in February 2021, XRP and Solana futures followed, and the exchange is set to begin 24/7 crypto trading on May 29, just days before the index futures debut.
The exchange is considering issuing its own digital token as part of an expanded review of tokenized collateral, CEO Terry Duffy said during a February earnings call.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
