CME Plans June 8 Launch for Crypto Index Futures

CME Group plans to launch Nasdaq CME Crypto Index futures on June 8 pending regulatory approval.

Crypto News

CME Group has set June 8, 2026, as the target launch date for Nasdaq CME Crypto Index futures, pending regulatory review.

The product will be CME's first market-cap-weighted crypto futures contract. It will be

in both micro and standard sizes, giving market participants a single contract covering broad exposure to the top cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

The contracts will settle in US dollars to the Nasdaq CME Crypto Settlement Price Index. As of May 14, the index tracks Bitcoin (

), Ethereum (

), Solana (

),

, Cardano (

), Chainlink (

) and Stellar Lumens (

).

CME Daily Crypto Volume Up 43% Year-to-Date

Giovanni Vicioso, CME's global head of cryptocurrency products, said the contracts give clients a regulated way to gain "broad-based exposure to the overall crypto market." He added that average daily volume across CME's crypto futures suite is up 43% year-to-date. CME has said its existing suite covers more than 75% of the total crypto market capitalization.

Sean Wasserman, head of index product management at Nasdaq, described the futures as "a natural extension of how index-based frameworks support market development over time." He pointed to growing institutional demand for crypto benchmarks that meet the governance and transparency standards expected in traditional asset classes.