CME and Nasdaq Set to Roll Out Crypto Index Futures Linked to BTC, ETH, SOL and XRP
CME Group and Nasdaq plan to introduce Nasdaq CME Crypto Index Futures on June 8, offering exposure to seven major digital assets through a single futures contract, CoinDesk reported.
Announced Thursday, the new product will track a market-capitalization-weighted basket comprising Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), XRP, Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK) and Stellar (XLM). The futures will be listed in standard and mini sizes and will be cash-settled at expiry using the index reference price.
Nasdaq and CME said the benchmark is intended to reflect the performance of the largest and most actively traded cryptocurrencies by market value. The launch would be CME's first market-cap-weighted crypto futures product, underscoring the exchange's push to broaden regulated derivatives beyond the largest tokens.
CME said institutional participation in regulated crypto markets continues to grow, adding that average daily volume in its crypto derivatives is up 43% year to date. Earlier this month, CME launched Bitcoin Volatility Futures, designed to track the market's expected 30-day volatility for Bitcoin.
Across the industry, derivatives offerings are widening beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. In February, Kraken began offering perpetual contracts tied to tokenized stocks and commodities, giving international users leveraged access to traditional markets around the clock. In March, Coinbase introduced perpetual futures for users outside the U.S., linked to U.S. stocks and indices, providing leveraged, cash-settled exposure to assets such as NVIDIA (NVDA) and Apple (AAPL).
In April, Blockchain.com added perpetual futures trading via Hyperliquid (HYPE) to its self-custody wallet, allowing users to take leveraged crypto positions using self-custodied Bitcoin as collateral without moving BTC to a centralized exchange.
Prediction-market platforms are also moving into crypto derivatives. Reports earlier this month said Kalshi is preparing to enter the crypto perpetual futures market, potentially extending its business from event-based contracts into leveraged digital assets.
Most crypto perpetual futures products remain unavailable to U.S. retail investors, and regulatory uncertainty has historically pushed a meaningful share of activity offshore. Derivatives publication FOW reported that CFTC Chair Michael Selig said in March the agency is working to enable the launch of "true perpetual futures" in the U.S. within "about a month."
