Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group, a leading derivatives marketplace, plans to provide options trading for future projects of Ethereum (ETH).
CME Group announced on Thursday that it intends to launch options contracts for its Ethereum futures, with the contract size of 50 ETH each. However, the plan is subject to regulatory review.
So far, the firm has launched a Bitcoin (BTC) futures contract in December 2017, BTC options trading in January 2020, and micro-sized BTC and Ethereum options in March 2022. The futures options are expected to begin trading on September 12.
Tim McCourt, global head of equity and FX products of CME Group, cited the upcoming Ethereum Merge as the driving force behind the unveiling of the ETH futures product.
ETH futures and micro-sized ETH futures options had seen an increase in trading volume and open interest, McCourt claimed, possibly in preparation for the Merge.
CME Group revealed that, within the period between June and July, the average daily trading volume of ETH futures increased by 7%, and the same volume of contracts of micro ETH futures has increased by 41%.
Before the Merge, which is anticipated to arrive on September 15, there may be a major amount of trading activity and investment vehicles related to ETH.
