CME Group, the world’s largest derivatives exchange, has expanded its cryptocurrency futures product lineup with the addition of Micro Ether futures (MET). The new financial instrument empowers investors to reach a higher degree of precision when trading and joins Micro Bitcoin futures (MBT) that were launched on the platform in May.
Key takeaways:
- After launching regular-sized Ethereum futures in February of this year, CME has now added a more efficient and cost-effective way to gain exposure to the world’s second-largest crypto in the form of so-called micro futures.
- Micro Ether futures provide investors with an opportunity to more efficiently manage their portfolio diversification and are designed to benefit smaller traders the most.
- The new cryptocurrency-based financial instrument was first announced early in November. At the time, CME Group Global Head of Equity Index and Alternative Investment Products Tim McCourt explained that given Ethereum’s significant price rally over the last couple of months, the regular-sized ETH futures have become inaccessible to a large number of investors.
- “The price of ether has more than doubled since these contracts were introduced, creating demand for a micro-sized contract to make this market even more accessible to a broader range of participants,” McCourt elaborated.
- According to the company’s November press release, more than 2.7 million Micro Bitcoin futures have been traded since their launch in May.
- The new ETH-based product is cash-settled, while the referential price of ETH is updated daily based on the CME’s own ETH-USD rate.
- Following the December 6 launch of MET, the price of ETH has surged by over 10% to $4,400.
