CME Group’s crypto derivatives market showed robust growth in the second quarter, propelled by a sharp increase in trading activity throughout June. The company recorded an average daily volume of 334,000 contracts in June alone, amounting to a notional value of $10.7 billion, which reflects a substantial year-over-year rise of 76%.
This surge followed CME’s recent launch of 24/7 trading for its regulated crypto futures and options, which generated over 7,200 contracts valued around $50 million during the initial weekend of continuous trading. The introduction of round-the-clock trading appears to have boosted engagement and liquidity significantly.
Across the entire second quarter, CME crypto derivatives averaged 250,000 contracts daily, with a total notional value reaching $13.7 billion. This performance represents a 32% increase compared to the same period last year and surpasses the first quarter’s daily average of 198,000 contracts, which totaled $11.3 billion in value. Among highlighted products, Micro Bitcoin futures experienced a notable 46% uptick in daily volume during June, averaging 77,000 contracts.
The continued expansion of derivatives trading outpaces spot market volume growth and underscores a widening divide in market dynamics. Centralized exchanges reported massive volumes, with spot trading generating significantly less turnover than derivatives. In the first quarter, derivatives volume on centralized platforms dominated $18.63 trillion, compared to $1.94 trillion attributed to spot trading. Binance led the derivatives segment with $4.9 trillion in volume, followed by OKX.