- CME Group announced on Monday that it has launched Ether (ETH) options on futures.
- The new contracts will deliver one Ether futures, sized at 50 ether per contract that is based on the reference rate of the U.S. dollar price of Ether updated daily.
The Official Announcements by CME Group
Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group is the world’s leading derivatives marketplace. On September 12, 2022 it announced the launch of options on Ether futures.
Tim McCourt, Global Head of Equity and FX Products of CME Group said that, “As market participants anticipate the upcoming Ethereum Merge, a potentially game-changing update of one of the largest cryptocurrency networks, interest in Ether derivatives is surging.”
He further added, “The launch of our new Ether options contracts is particularly well-timed to provide the crypto community with another important tool to gain access to and manage exposure to ether. Our new options contracts will also complement CME Group’s Ether futures which have seen a 43% increase in average daily volume year over year.”
Previous Products Launched by CME Group
A Bitcoin (BTC) options trading product is launched by CME Group in January 2020. It then launched micro Ether futures contracts in December 2021. Earlier this year in March 2022 it further introduced options contracts for its existing micro BTC and ETH futures at 10% of the size of the tokens.
What does DRW and Genesis Head Say?
Rob Strebel, Head of Relationship Management for DRW said on this launch that, “CME Group has proven trading and clearing infrastructure backing the product and we’re excited to provide liquidity on day one. As ether transitions through the anticipated merge this week, we expect we’ll continue to see strong demand for this Ether options contract.”
Leon Marshall, Global Head of Sales at Genesis, also added that, “Genesis is proud to consistently provide day-one support of CME Group’s ever-expanding suite of crypto derivatives and offer the newest derivatives products to our institutional clients.”
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/09/13/cme-group-launches-ether-eth-options-ahead-the-merger/