coindesk.com
CME Group, the world's largest derivatives exchange, will soon roll out futures contracts tied to cardano, chainlink, and stellar, a sign of growing investor demand for regulated altcoin risk-management tools.
The new contracts, set to go live on Feb. 9 pending regulatory approval, offer micro and standard sizes to suit both retail and institutional traders.
Cardano futures contracts will carry 100,000 tokens in the standard version and 10,000 tokens in the micro version. Chainlink futures are sized at 5,000 tokens for standard contracts and 250 tokens for micros, while Stellar futures will comprise 250,000 tokens in standard contracts and 12,500 tokens in micros.
"Given crypto's record growth over the last year, clients are looking for trusted, regulated products to manage price risk as well as additional tools to gain exposure to this dynamic market," said Giovanni Vicioso, CME Group Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products, in the announcement shared with CoinDesk.
"With these new micro- and larger-size Cardano, Chainlink and Stellar futures contracts, market participants will now have greater choice with enhanced flexibility and more capital-efficiencies," he added.
CME's decision to launch futures tied to these tokens signals strong institutional confidence in their spot pricing integrity. Such listings have historically paved the way for U.S. spot ETF approvals, drawing in traditional investors and boosting overall liquidity.
Cardano's ADA token, powering the programmable blockchain, commands a $14.48 billion market capitalization, ranking it 12th globally, according to CoinDesk data. Chainlink's LINK, which provides oracle services, has a $9.77 billion market cap, while Stellar's XLM token, used for smart contracts and cross-border payments, carries a $7.38 billion valuation, placing both among the top 25 cryptocurrencies.
CME, which pioneered mainstream crypto futures with its bitcoin contracts in 2017, has steadily built out its suite, which currently comprises bitcoin, ether, XRP and solana futures and options on futures.
CME Group set records in 2025 for cryptocurrency futures and options trading, with average daily volume reaching 278,300 contracts, equivalent to $12 billion in notional value, and average open interest hitting 313,900 contracts, or $26.4 billion notional.