TL;DR:
- CME Group CEO Terrence Duffy confirmed they are evaluating issuing a proprietary coin on a decentralized network.
- The derivatives exchange plans to transition all its cryptocurrency products to uninterrupted trading this year.
- Daily crypto asset trading volume at CME reached a record $13 billion in 2025.
CME Group shook the market by confirming it is evaluating the launch of its own digital asset. During Wednesday’s earnings call, Terrence Duffy, the firm’s Chairman and CEO, revealed that 24/7 trading at CME for its cryptocurrency products is a priority aimed at meeting growing institutional demand for greater efficiency.
This initiative is supported by a strategic collaboration with Google, originally announced in March 2025, to facilitate secure wholesale payments and the tokenization of high-liquidity assets. Notably, CME plans to place its asset on a public decentralized network so other participants can use it as collateral, a move that sets them apart from Wall Street competitors who utilize private networks.
Consequently, this action would allow traders to manage their margins and guarantees instantaneously, eliminating the limitations of traditional banking hours. In this way, the exchange seeks to optimize risk management for its clients without compromising the systemic security that characterizes its financial infrastructure.
Record Growth and Crypto Product Expansion
The announcement of continuous trading follows a year of unprecedented success for the company’s digital asset division. According to the data presented, the average daily trading volume increased by 92% year-over-year in the fourth quarter, reaching $13 billion in notional value traded each day.
Likewise, the expansion of its product suite has been constant, recently adding futures contracts for Chainlink, Cardano, and Stellar to its existing offering of Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana. With the implementation of the 24/7 schedule, expected in early 2026 following regulatory review, CME will finally align itself with the perpetual nature of the native crypto market.
In summary, the commitment to a proprietary asset and total market availability marks a new era for institutional adoption. The industry remains attentive to the technical specifications of this new token, which promises to redefine how tokenized cash is used in the world’s largest derivatives markets.
