CME Group, the world’s leading derivatives marketplace, announced its new financially settled options on Bitcoin Friday futures are now available for trading. The first trade, a block, took place on Sunday, February 23, and was executed between Cumberland DRW and Galaxy and cleared by Marex.

“We are pleased to see such early and strong support for these new options products,” said  Giovanni Vicioso, Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products at CME Group. “These smaller sized, cash-settled contracts, with expiries available every day of the business week, will provide traders with even greater precision to manage short-term bitcoin price risk.”

“We are pleased to support CME Group’s new options on Bitcoin Friday futures by executing the first option block trade,” said  Roman Makarov, Head of Options Trading at Cumberland DRW. “Innovative products like this give users increased liquidity, flexibility and optionality to engage in the rapidly expanding intersection between traditional and crypto markets. It’s exciting to see trusted exchanges like CME Group continue to support this ecosystem through relevant product launches, and Cumberland DRW is proud to be a longstanding partner in that journey.”

“Marex is thrilled to have cleared the first block trade for CME Group’s new options on Bitcoin Friday futures for two FCM clients,” said  Brooks Dudley, Head of Digital Assets Sales at Marex Capital Markets. “These contracts will sharpen visibility into short-term volatility, empowering traders with a precise risk management tool.  It’s a proud milestone in our mission to deliver cutting-edge, secure clearing solutions to the institutional digital asset market.”

“CME Group’s introduction of options on Bitcoin Friday Futures is a valuable expansion of their product suite,” said  Mike Harvey, Head of Franchise Trading at Galaxy. “The contracts’ low notional value makes them accessible to a broad range of market participants, while the 4 p.m. New York settlement time offers added precision for developing and executing trading strategies.”

Financially settled options on Bitcoin Friday futures will complement CME Group’s existing suite of physically-settled options on Bitcoin, Ether, Micro Bitcoin and Micro Ether futures, providing additional risk management flexibility to investors.

Source: CME