Portfolio margining savings soar to a record of nearly $10B/day
Driven by a 40% year-over-year (YoY) increase in USD cleared swap notional volumes, our swaps-futures portfolio margining program is reaching new highs of nearly $10B in average daily savings to begin 2026.
Continued demand for margin savings has fueled strong adoption of this program, with a record number of buy-side clients seeking to use our industry-leading portfolio margining solution. Find out more about our program, as well as our plans for expanding these efficiencies in the near future.
Living large: LOIH count reaches new heights
Reflecting the breadth of participants in our markets, the number of large open interest holders (LOIHs) has once again reached a new all-time high.
Led by growing activity in the listed swaps market (particularly in 5-Yr Eris SOFR Swap futures) and Treasury futures (Ultra 10s), the list of LOIHs grew by ~9% YoY to over 3.6K for the first time ever.
Big changes ahead after a record year in Fed Funds
Though the Fed held rates steady to kick off 2026, changes appear likely for the FOMC this year. President Trump recently announced his intention to put up Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, though he will still need to be confirmed by the Senate.
This environment looks to continue the uncertain backdrop, which has dominated the world of Fed Funds futures as of late, a trend that pushed 2025 to a new annual average daily open interest (ADOI) record, up ~8.5% YoY.
For more on how traders are viewing a potential Warsh term, look to FedWatch for clues as the nomination process gets underway shortly.
Spread the news about Eris Treasury Swap Spreads
As growth in underlying Eris SOFR Swap futures continues, traders are increasingly turning to Eris Treasury Swap Spreads to manage their risk. These contracts have seen activity surge by over 100% YoY in 2025, while January is off to an even more impressive start for volume.
Trading swap spreads in this method unlocks the benefit of liquid, anonymous, electronic futures markets when compared to the OTC market. Read our guide for more on how to use these increasingly popular contracts in your strategy.
More in Interest Rates
Explore a record year in over 25 charts
The 2025 edition of our chart book is here.
This comprehensive guide offers visualizations of all our key markets from a liquidity perspective. The charts feature the following:
- Cost-to-trade, volume and open interest (OI) across the suite
- Short-term interest rates (STIRs)
- U.S. Treasuries
- Swap futures
- Credit futures
- Mortgage and TBAs
- Options
SR3: The full package
Did you know? Over 800K SOFR futures contracts trade each day on average in quarter tick increments. Efficient and precise hedging is available via packs and bundles, which have grown to make up roughly 20% of total daily SOFR volume.
Discover more about this trade type and how it fits into our world-renowned SOFR ecosystem.
Blockbuster: TBA and Mortgage minimums fall
Now live: For all TBA futures coupons, minimum block trade quantities have been reduced to 50 contracts (all trading hours), while Mortgage Rate futures have seen minimums fall to just five contracts.
These changes bring the contracts in better alignment with other Interest Rate futures and should expand hedging possibilities for those across the real estate market.
Data as of Febraury 2, 2026, unless otherwise specified.
View an archive of the Rates Recap online at cmegroup.com/ratesrecap.
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