February Equity Index Product Review

*Through February 28, 2022

• Equity Index futures and options volume averaged 8.1 million contracts per day in February 2022 (+46% vs. Feb-21).
• Equity Index open interest averaged 9.5 million contracts per day for the month of February 2022 (+20% vs. Feb-21).

• Bitcoin futures and options: Futures February ADV was 9.2K and open interest averaged 10.4K. LOIH averaged 83 YTD, indicating continued institutional interest. Over 59K Bitcoin options have traded since their launch in early 2020 for a notional value of nearly $7.4B. February average OI was 1.7K (+4% vs. Jan.-22), an average daily value of nearly $368M. 

• Micro Bitcoin futures: On May 3, 2021, CME Group launched Micro Bitcoin futures; over 4.5M contracts have traded since launch. The futures are 1/10 of a bitcoin and settled to the CF Bitcoin Reference Rate. February ADV was 21.8K (+4% vs. Jan.-22) and OI averaged 15.4K.
  
  CME Group announced the introduction of options on Micro Bitcoin futures, available to trade starting March 28, pending regulatory review. Learn more here:
  •       Landing page
  •       Fact card
  •       FAQ

• Ether Futures: CME Group launched Ether futures on February 8, 2021. The contract is cash-settled and based on the regulated CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate. Over 1.1M CME Ether futures contracts have traded since launch (equivalent to 56.4M Ether). February ADV was 5.7K and open interest averaged 3.5K for the month.

• Micro Ether Futures: Launched December 6, over 1M contracts have traded since launch. ADV in February was 19.9K and OI averaged 32.1K.  Sized at 1/10 of one ether, the contract provides an efficient, cost-effective way to manage exposure to one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Enjoy the same features of the larger Ether futures (ETH) at a fraction of the size, settled to the regulated CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate.
  
  CME announced the introduction of options on Micro Ether futures, available to trade starting March 28, pending regulatory review.
  
  Learn more here:
  • Landing page
  • Fact card
  • FAQ

• Micro E-mini futures: Over 1.2B Micro E-mini Equity Index futures contracts have traded since launch. February ADV was 3.6M and included a record trading day on February 23, with 6,908,608 contracts traded. Learn more.

• Micro E-mini options: CME Group launched Micro E-mini options on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 indices on August 31, 2020. Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 options continue to gain ground against their Micro E-mini S&P 500 options counterpart in terms of volume contribution. Since launch, a combined 3.8M contracts have traded. February ADV was another record 19.6K (+3% vs Jan.) with a record 39.4K contracts traded on February 11.

• E-mini S&P 500 ESG futures: Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) is an investment theme that has continued to gain attention and implementation over the last several years, as the need for capitally efficient ESG solutions has grown. The S&P 500 ESG futures contracts allows market participants to gain price exposure to an index that closely tracks the performance of the S&P 500, while adhering to ESG principles. February ADV was 1.9K, with open interest averaging 11.2K.

• E-mini S&P Europe 350 ESG futures: Launched May 24, 2021, E-mini S&P Europe 350 ESG futures are cash-settled to the S&P Europe 350 ESG index. The index is Pan-European, covering developed markets across over 15 different countries. The four largest individual country weights as of April 8, 2021, are UK 23.58%, France 18.08%, Switzerland 17,16%, and Germany 14.90%. The index is based on the robust ESG index methodology, same as the one applied to S&P 500 ESG index and is right-sized in terms of the number of constituents, which is approximately 230. Since launch, nearly 2.8K futures have traded.
  
  For more information, visit the following links:
  • E-mini S&P Europe 350 futures landing page
  • E-mini S&P Europe 350 futures FAQ
  • E-mini S&P Europe 350 futures fact card

• Total Return futures: CME Group launched the S&P 500 Adjusted Interest Rate (AIR) Total Return futures in September 2020. February ADV was 2.7K and OI averaged a record 177K. February 23 reached a record OI of 185,586.
  
  Visit the following links for further detail:
  • AIR Total Return futures landing page

• Adjusted Interest Rate (AIR) Total Return futures expansion:

  • FTSE 100 Adjusted Interest Rate (AIR) Total Return futures: On June 7, 2021, CME Group launched AIR Total Return futures on the FTSE 100 Index. These futures offer total return exposure with an overnight floating rate built in, using SONIA as the financing reference rate. 

To learn more on FTSE 100 AIR futures, visit the following links:

• • FTSE 100 AIR futures landing page
  • FTSE 100 AIR futures FAQ
  • FTSE 100 AIR futures fact card
    
    
  • Nasdaq-100, Russell 1000, Russell 2000 and DJIA AIR Total Return futures: Launched July 26, 2021, the contracts provide access to U.S. index total return equity index exposure with an enhanced floating rate. 

Learn more about U.S. Index AIR Total Return futures:

• • US AIR futures landing page

• Nasdaq-100 Volatility Index futures: On January 10, VOLQ futures underwent a multiplier change reduction from $1,000 to $100, allowing market participants to hedge risk and express a view around Nasdaq-100 at-the-money volatility with more precision. Since the change implementation, nearly 10.5K contracts have traded and open interest has averaged 45 contracts. Learn more here.

• Nikkei futures: Nikkei 225 futures ADV reached 51.8K in February (+4% vs Jan.-22) and average OI was 67K for the month (+8% vs. Jan.-22). Nikkei 225 futures can be transacted through the MOS (Mutual Offset System); in 2021, approximately 75% of volume was traded outside of Tokyo cash hours, and more than 60% of ADV was traded before the U.S. market open (during non-U.S. hours).

• Bloomberg Commodity Index: Effective in December, CME Group adjusted the contract specifications and fees for our Bloomberg Commodity Index futures. Fees were lowered, while the minimum price increment and daily settlement were changed to allow participants to access our markets more seamlessly. Learn more.