Author：Xu Surfing
CME Group’s cryptocurrency futures and options products will be made available for round-the-clock trading beginning on May 29. The move is a significant advancement for the major regulated, centrally cleared U.S. marketplace as other traditional trading venues work to align with crypto's non-stop nature.
Many crypto-native derivatives exchanges offer 24/7 trading, including the largest global platform, Binance Futures.
Late last year, Coinbase Derivatives announced it would expand non-stop trading for its bevy of “perp-style” altcoins after initially unveiling 24/7 Bitcoin and Ethereum futures trading in May and perp-style futures in July, marking a first for a CFTC-regulated exchange. Coinbase had recently acquired Deribit.
For some venues, adding 24/7 trading for crypto assets is a testing ground to see if the offering also works for traditional assets — an area of much debate. Tim McCourt, CME’s global head of equities, previously said “not all markets lend themselves to operating 24/7,” despite the clear demand for “around-the-clock cryptocurrency trading.”
Meanwhile, Larry Fink, CEO of the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, has said multiple times that nearly every asset class could be tokenized, including in his annual letter.
CME Group first said it was looking to offer round-the-clock cryptocurrency futures and options trading last year. The firm is also working to launch what appears to be a quasi-stablecoin for use as on-exchange collateral, following news that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission accepts certain cryptocurrencies as collateral in derivatives markets.
Crypto-native exchanges like Binance, Coinbase and Kraken are also working to introduce stock trading with blockchain features, though the rollouts have been gradual and not yet global. In addition to major centralized platforms like Binance, Bybit, and OKX, blockchain-based perps exchanges, including Hyperliquid, Lighter and Aster offer crypto derivatives that trade at any time.
Expanding suite
CME Group also plans to launch Avalanche (AVAX) and Sui (SUI) futures early next month, adding to its suite of regulated crypto commodity futures products.
Like CME’s previous offerings — most recently including Cardano, Chainlink and Stellar futures — the world’s largest derivatives marketplace will launch both normal and micro contracts. Users will be able to trade contracts of either 5,000 AVAX or 500 AVAX and 50,000 SUI or 5,000 SUI.
"Our new micro- and larger-sized Avalanche and Sui futures will provide clients with greater choice, enhanced flexibility and more capital efficiencies across our deeply liquid, regulated Crypto derivatives complex," CME Group Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products Giovanni Vicioso said.
Last month, CME Group announced it now provides access to over 75% of the crypto market capitalization by offering BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, ADA, LINK, and XLM products.
The company first entered crypto with its bitcoin futures listing in 2017, followed by ether futures in 2021.
According to CME Group, its average daily open interest in its cryptocurrency suite reached nearly $25 billion in 2025. Open interest is the total number of outstanding futures or options contracts that have not yet been settled.
