CME Group started trading its Nasdaq CME Crypto Index futures on June 8, marking the exchange’s first market-cap-weighted cryptocurrency derivative. The product bundles eight digital assets into one regulated, cash-settled contract, eliminating the need to buy, store or transfer each token individually. CME confirmed the launch on June 9.
Index Composition: Eight Coins by Market Cap
The contract tracks the Nasdaq CME Crypto Settlement Price Index, which uses a market-cap-weighted methodology. Constituents include Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), XRP, Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK) and Stellar Lumens (XLM). Bitcoin and Ether dominate the basket by weight, while the remaining coins cover payment networks, smart-contract platforms and blockchain data services.
Standard and Micro Contract Sizes
Two contract sizes are available: the standard contract (ticker NCI) values each index point at $10, while the micro contract (ticker MCI) values each index point at $1. Both settle in cash — at expiration, traders exchange the difference between entry and exit prices, taking no delivery of any underlying cryptocurrency.
CME Executives: Hedging and Diversification
Giovanni Vicioso, CME Group’s global head of cryptocurrency products, said clients want broad crypto exposure through a regulated derivatives market. “These contracts give clients a cost-efficient tool to hedge their risk,” Vicioso said. Nasdaq’s head of index product management Sean Wasserman noted growing demand for digital-asset benchmarks with established governance and transparent rules, adding that “futures linked to the index are a natural extension.”
Expanding CME’s Crypto Derivatives Suite
The index futures follow CME’s earlier rollout of single-coin futures for BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, ADA, LINK, XLM, Avalanche and Sui, as well as Bitcoin volatility futures that launched in June. All CME crypto futures and options now trade on a 24/7 schedule (barring maintenance windows), bringing regulated hours closer to the continuous spot market. As crypto.news reported in May, the index product was CME’s first market-cap-weighted crypto futures contract. The new contract lets funds and advisers manage broad crypto exposure via a single position, though price moves in one asset may be offset by losses in others within the basket during any trading session.