CME set to launch ether options
Quick Take
- CME group is launching ether options as anticipation builds for The Merge.
- The groups global head of equity and foreign exchange products Tim McCourt shared the news in a statement on Monday.
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) announced plans to launch ether options.
The move comes as ether derivatives are surging ahead of the Ethereum blockchain's move to proof-of-stake, dubbed The Merge.
"The launch of our new Ether options contracts is particularly well-timed to provide the crypto community with another important tool to gain access to and manage exposure to ether," said Tim McCourt, CME's global head of equity and foreign exchange products.
The new contracts will complement the group's ether futures offering, which McCourt says rose 43% on average daily volume year-over-year.
Options trading involves buying or selling the underlying security – in this case, ether options contracts – at a pre-agreed strike price.
The new contracts will deliver one ether future, sized at 50 ether per contract, and based on the CME's CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate, which serves as a once-a-day reference rate of the U.S. dollar price of ether.
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