CME Group to introduce options on Bitcoin Friday Futures, which are priced at 1/50th of a bitcoin

CME Group plans to introduce options on its Bitcoin Friday Futures (BFF) contracts in late February, pending regulatory approval. Scheduled for launch on Feb. 24, these will be the first financially settled cryptocurrency options offered by CME Group, featuring expiries available every business day from Monday to Friday.

"We are pleased to offer these new options that provide traders with even greater precision to manage short-term bitcoin price risk," CME Group Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products Giovanni Vicioso said in a press release on Thursday. "Building on the success of our Bitcoin Friday Futures, the smaller size of these contracts, along with daily expiries, offer market participants a capital-efficient toolset to effectively adjust their bitcoin exposure."

Making bitcoin futures more accessible

Bitcoin Friday Futures , CME’s smallest bitcoin-based contract, is designed to address affordability and accessibility challenges posed by bitcoin’s increasing notional value. Priced at 1/50th of a bitcoin , the BFF contracts cater to both institutional investors and active retail traders. Since their Sep. 30 debut, they have become CME’s most successful crypto futures launch ever.

Since launch, more than 775,000 contracts have traded, with an average daily volume of 9,700 contracts. Notably, 44% of trading activity has occurred during non-U.S. hours, highlighting potentially global demand. In total, BFF contracts have generated $1.63 billion in trading volume, according to the press release.

Financially-settled options on Bitcoin Friday futures will complement CME Group's existing suite of physically-settled options on bitcoin, ether, micro bitcoin and micro ether futures, providing additional risk management flexibility to investors.