July Equity Index Product Review

Source: CME Group
*Through July 31, 2023

• Equity Index futures and options volume averaged 5.4M contracts per day in July 2023.
• Equity Index open interest averaged 10.4M contracts per day for the month of July 2023.

Ether/Bitcoin Ratio: On July 31, CME Group launched Ether/Bitcoin Ratio futures, enabling traders to capture the relative value of ether and bitcoin in a single transaction. The new contract is cash-settled based on the settlement prices of the corresponding futures contracts. Like inter-commodity spreads, ratio futures can help maintain price alignment between the two underlying contracts, potentially improving the bid-ask spreads for the outright contracts. Find out more: 

• FAQ

Bitcoin futures and options: Institutional interest remains strong as investors continue to seek regulated venues and products to hedge rising market volatility and manage risk and exposure. Futures trading in July averaged 10.5K and open interest averaged 16.3K (8% vs. Jun-23). Bitcoin options have traded over 140K since launch and the average OI was 5K in July.

Micro Bitcoin futures: CME Group launched Micro Bitcoin options in May 2021 and have traded over 8.9M contracts since. The futures are 1/10 of a bitcoin and settled to the CF Bitcoin Reference Rate. July ADV was 9.1K and OI averaged 14K (+55% vs. Jun-23).

Micro Bitcoin and Micro Ether options: CME Group introduced options on Micro Bitcoin futures and options on Micro Ether futures starting March 28. The options are right-sized at 1/10th of their respective tokens. Now, over 600K contracts traded since launch across the various expiries with trades submitted from EMEA, APAC, and North America. New expiries are now available to enjoy greater precision and versatility in managing short-term bitcoin and ether risk with the expansion of weekly options expiries across our Cryptocurrency options suite. Over 610K micro options contracts have traded, with trading picking up across the newly listed expiries. Find out more:

• 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 3.2M CME Ether futures contracts have traded since launch (equivalent to 160M Ether). July ADV was 3.8K and OI averaged 4K (+8% vs. Jun-2023).

Ether options: Launched on September 12, Ether options offer another way to efficiently manage ether exposure at a 50x multiplier. Over 12K contracts have traded since launch, equivalent to over 611K ether. July OI averaged 1.8K. Find out more:

• Landing page
• Fact card
• FAQ

Micro Ether futures: Launched December 2021 and have traded nearly 6.5M contracts since. The ADV in July was 6.6K and OI averaged 18.3K (+9% vs. Jun-2023).  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.        

Bitcoin Euro and Ether Euro futures: CME Group launched Bitcoin Euro and Ether Euro futures on August 29. The new contracts are designed to match that of their U.S.-denominated counterparts at five bitcoin or 50 ether per contract. The contracts will settle to the respective CME CF Bitcoin-Euro Reference Rate (BTCEUR_RR) and CME CF Ether-Euro Reference Rate (ETHEUR_RR). Find out more:

• Landing page
• Bitcoin Euro
• Ether Euro
• Cryptocurrency futures FAQ
• Fact card

Micro E-mini futures: Nearly 2.2B Micro E-mini Equity Index futures contracts have traded since launch. Combined ADV in July was 1.8M. Now trade Micro E-mini S&P MidCap 400 and SmallCap 600 futures, launched March 20. Find out more:

• Landing page

Micro E-mini options: CME Group launched Micro E-mini options on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 indices in 2020. Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 options continue to gain ground against their Micro E-mini S&P 500 option counterpart in terms of volume contribution. Since launch, nearly 8.2M contracts have traded, with the July ADV being 12.2K.

Now enjoy greater precision and versatility in managing short-term exposure with the introduction of Micro E-mini S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday options launched on February 13. These new contracts complement the existing Friday weekly, end-of-month options, and quarterly options on Micro E-mini S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures. Find out more:

• Landing page
• FAQ

E-mini S&P 500 option blocks: Participation in ES options blocks continues to grow, allowing market participants to execute large trades with greater efficiency. Nearly 40M ES options blocks have traded, with July ADV at 97K contracts.

NQ options became block eligible starting January 2022, with a minimum block threshold of 60 contracts. Over 68K contracts have traded since eligibility.

Dividend futures: CME Dividend futures combined July ADV was 4.0K. S&P 500 Annual Dividend Index futures, with July ADV being 3.2K. Nearly 69K contracts have traded since the launch of CME Annual Dividend Index futures on Nasdaq-100 and Russell 2000 in early 2022.

TOPIX futures: Launched on November 21, USD-denominated TOPIX index futures provide market participants a new way to capture benchmark Japanese equity exposure while minimizing FX risk. This is the first USD-denominated TOPIX futures contract, which complements the existing yen-denominated TOPIX contract and provides trading opportunities in different currencies. Achieve capital-efficient exposure by saving on potential margin offsets against other Equity Index futures at CME Group. Traders can utilize the dynamic quanto spreading opportunities between the yen- and USD-denominated TOPIX contracts created by the JPY/USD exchange rate. Access trading through outrights electronically on CME Globex and capture the certainty of the close using Basis Trade at Index Close (BTIC), or bilaterally negotiate EFP transactions.