CME Group set to launch Nasdaq CME crypto index futures in June

The CME group has announced plans to partner with Nasdaq to launch the firm’s first weighted crypto futures by market cap on June 8. This new product is intended to give its institutional traders exposure to the major cryptocurrencies, subject to regulatory review.

The exchange announced that the crypto futures, will be available in both micro and larger contract sizes. At expiration, contracts will settle against the Nasdaq CME Crypto Settlement Price Index, which tracks the largest and most actively traded cryptocurrencies. This index currently includes Bitcoin, ETH, SOL, XRP, ADA, LINK, and XLM, according to the CME Group press release.

Institutional demand drives CME and Nasdaq partnership

Giovanni Vicioso, Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products at CME Group, has said the new contracts will offer clients “a regulated, cost-effective and convenient way to hedge or gain broad-based exposure to the overall crypto market.” He added that a 43% increase in average daily volume across CME’s crypto futures suite is strong evidence of increased institutional demand.

Sean Wasserman, Head of Index Product Management at Nasdaq, framed the product as a response to investor demand for transparent and governance-backed benchmarks. “The Nasdaq CME Crypto Index was designed to serve as a foundation, and the introduction of futures linked to the index is a natural extension of how index-based frameworks support market development over time,” Wasserman said in the same announcement statement.

Why employ a market-cap weighted contract?

The CME group already offers individual futures on BTC, ETH, and several altcoins. What it has not offered until now is a single contract weighted by market capitalization across multiple crypto tokens. This structure mirrors how equity investors use index futures (the S&P 500 E-mini, for example) to manage market exposure without picking individual stocks to invest in.

This appeals to portfolio managers as it helps with investment efficiency. Instead of creating and rebalancing a position involving multiple cryptocurrencies across separate futures contracts, they can simply work with a single futures tool to hedge their crypto exposure.

The CME Nasdaq crypto index futures arrive during a period of rapid expansion for the CME Group’s crypto products. Earlier in 2026, CME launched futures on Cardano, Chainlink, and Stellar Lumens (XLM). In May, the exchange announced Bitcoin Volatility futures (ticker BVI) set to begin trading on June 1, which is a product that allows traders to speculate on or hedge against Bitcoin price swings instead of trading towards a particular price direction, as Cryptopolitan previously reported.

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