CME CEO Remains Optimistic About Crypto Despite Sell-Off

CME Group CEO Terry Duffy remains optimistic about the future of the cryptocurrency market in spite of the devasting sell-off that took place in 2022.

In a recent interview with CNBC, Duffy said that the Chicago-based trading giant actually saw an uptick in trading interest:

“It’s really been interesting what has been going on with Bitcoin,” Duffy said. “We saw what happened at the end of the year with some of the issues going on in the industry. The whole crypto industry suffered and then we saw an uptick in our open interest in November-December, and it’s continuing on here.”

Despite the challenges facing the crypto market, Duffy believes that the regulated market is gaining traction. “If we’re going to trade that thing, we’re going to trade it on a regulated exchange like CME. So we’ve actually seen an uptick in our crypto products. So, we’re quite pleased by that,” he said.

Duffy also spoke about the impact of the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes on CME Group. Notably, the CEO is convinced that the recent uncertainty surrounding the Fed’s future monetary policy decisions is good for business. He admits that it is difficult to predict what will happen in the coming months.

“When you look at where the market is pointing to, you’re looking at the next Fed meeting. You’ve got a 90% probability that there’s going to be another quarter percent hike and then you have the meeting after that in May with a 70% chance of a quarter hike,” Duffy said. “The Fed Fund Futures is pricing in potentially by year-end maybe a pivot on the downside.”

In spite of the market’s prediction of a potential rate cut by the end of the year, Duffy believes that it is too early to make any conclusions. “I think that’s the beauty of the market right,” he said.

Last September, CME Group launched an offering with Ether futures. Recently, it also announced the introduction of euro-dominated futures.