• Second-Highest March ADV of 30.8 million contracts, up 27% year-over-year
• Record quarterly ADV for interest rate, equity index, agricultural, foreign exchange and cryptocurrency products
• Record quarterly ADV in U.S. Treasury and Henry Hub Natural Gas complexes
• Record quarterly international ADV of 8.8 million contracts

CME Group, the world’s leading derivatives marketplace, reported its Q1 and March 2025 market statistics, with average daily volume (ADV) reaching a new, all-time quarterly record of 29.8 million contracts and the second-highest March ADV on record with 30.8 million contracts.

In Q1, the company’s ADV grew 13% year-over-year, with record volume in interest rate, equity index, agricultural, foreign exchange and cryptocurrency products. CME Group’s deeply liquid U.S. Treasury complex hit a quarterly ADV record of 9.2 million contracts and its Henry Hub Natural Gas complex set a quarterly ADV record of 1.1 million contracts.

March ADV grew 27% year-over-year, with record monthly equity index ADV of 9.7 million contracts and double-digit ADV growth in interest rate, energy, agricultural, foreign exchange and cryptocurrency products.Market statistics are available in greater detail at https://cmegroupinc.gcs-web.com/monthly-volume.Q1 2025 highlights across asset classes compared to Q1 2024 include:

March 2025 highlights compared to March 2024 include:

• Interest Rate ADV of 14.6 million contracts, an increase of 31%
  • SOFR futures ADV increased 40% to 4.5 million contracts
  • 10-Year U.S. Treasury Note futures ADV increased 39% to 2.4 million contracts
  • 5-Year U.S. Treasury Note futures ADV increased 31% to 1.6 million contracts
  • 10-Year U.S. Treasury Note options ADV increased 27% to 1.1 million contracts
• Record monthly Equity Index ADV of 9.7 million contracts
  • Record Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures ADV of 2.2 million contracts
  • E-mini S&P 500 futures ADV increased 21% to 2.4 million contracts
  • Micro E-mini S&P 500 futures ADV increased 91% to 1.6 million contracts
• Energy ADV of 2.6 million contracts, an increase of 21%
  • Henry Hub Natural Gas futures ADV increased 40% to 678,000 contracts
  • Henry Hub Natural Gas options ADV increased 71% to 316,000 contracts
• Agricultural ADV of 1.8 million contracts, an increase of 20%
  • Corn futures ADV increased 52% to 476,000 contracts
  • Corn options ADV increased 47% to 158,000 contracts
• Foreign Exchange ADV of 1.4 million contracts, an increase of 12%
  • Japanese Yen futures ADV increased 7% to 236,000 contracts
  • Canadian Dollar futures ADV increased 24% to 143,000 contracts
• Metals ADV of 720,000 contracts
  • Micro Gold futures ADV increased 81% to 137,000 contracts
• Cryptocurrency ADV of 176,000 contracts, an increase of 59% ($8.4 billion notional)
  • Micro Bitcoin futures ADV increased 18% to 72,000 contracts
  • Micro Ether futures ADV increased 180% to 67,000 contracts
  • Ether futures ADV increased 122% to 12,000 contracts
• International ADV increased 31% to 9.3 million contracts, with EMEA ADV up 33%, Asia ADV up 30% and Latin America ADV up 7%
• Micro Products ADV
  • Micro E-mini Equity Index futures and options ADV of 4.1 million contracts represented 42.6% of overall Equity Index ADV and Micro WTI Crude Oil futures accounted for 2.1% of overall Energy ADV
• BrokerTec U.S. Repo average daily notional value (ADNV) increased 23% to $351.5 billion and European Repo ADNV increased 13% to €336.9 billion and U.S. Treasury ADNV increased 31% to $119.5 billion
• EBS Spot FX ADNV increased 39% to $76.2 billion and FX Link ADV increased 84% to 49,000 contracts ($4.4 billion notional per leg)
• Customer average collateral balances to meet performance bond requirements for rolling 3-months ending February 2025 were $75.8 billion for cash collateral and $179.8 billion for non-cash collateral

John Edwards, global head of BrokerTec, CME Group, said in an email:

March was BrokerTec’s highest overall volume month on record, with $955B in average daily notional value (ADNV) transacted, up 28% year-on-year (YoY) and up 5% month-on-month (MoM), across benchmark cash U.S. Treasuries, European Government Bonds and U.S. and EU Repo on its dealer-to-dealer CLOB and D2C RFQ and streaming platforms.On 3 March 2025, BrokerTec set a new single-day volume record of $1.05 trillion in average daily notional volume (ADNV) traded.On a quarterly basis, Q1 2025 was BrokerTec’s highest overall volume quarter on record, with $913B ADNV transacted, up 22% on Q1 2024.

U.S. Treasuries

BrokerTec U.S. Treasuries ADNV in March was $120B, up 31% YoY and up 6% MoM, as Treasury markets digested news from the incoming administration, economic indicators and treasury supply, and Fed policy guidance.Liquidity in the U.S. Treasury CLOB remained resilient throughout this period of increased volatility, with the average top of book depth in the 10Y note fell 5% YoY while 10Y treasury CVOL reached its highest level post US election on March 3rd.

BrokerTec’s RV product suite also reached $2.7B ADNV in March including $627M ADV in Butterflies.U.S.

Repo

March was a record month with ADNV of $352B, up 23% year-on-year (YoY) YoY and up 9% month-on-month (MoM). This was a result of strong volatility in the outright market, many open positions and some specials activity. The high levels of new issuance and quantitative tightening continued to boost our volumes in March.During the month, interest rates remained unchanged, while quantitative tightening reduced down to 5B USTs per month. The amount of new issuance has not increased YoY but remains high while total outstanding USTs amount to $28.6T up 6.8% YoY per SIFMA Research.

EU Repo 

BrokerTec EU Repo volumes continued to increase during March, resulting in an ADV of €337B, up 13% YoY, and up 2% MoM. The second highest ADV notional day and week of 2025 were achieved during March.During the month, the ECB lowered interest rates for the sixth time since June 2024, and indicated that its cutting phase may be drawing to a close with inflation cooling and the potential repercussions of geopolitics.

Erik Norland, chief economist, CME Group, said in an email: 

U.S. 10Y Treasury yields finished March nearly unchanged after significant declines during the last two days of the month.  The resilience of Treasury yields was remarkable given that sharp fall in U.S. equities over the course of the month which might normally have been expected to produce a flight-to-quality and lower bond yields.  Fear of higher prices stemming from tariffs may have prevented U.S. yields from falling.  Likewise the significant rise in European bond yields might have pulled Treasury yield higher. 10Y German Bund yields jumped 32bps over the course of the month as Germany looked to boost infrastructure and military spending while running larger budget deficits. Other European sovereign bonds followed German yields higher with little overall change in intra-European bond spreads.