This week, CME Group, the world’s largest crypto derivatives marketplace, announced plans to expand its suite of regulated cryptocurrency derivatives with the launch of Chainlink (LINK), Cardano (ADA), and Stellar (Lumens) futures on February 9, pending regulatory review.
Market participants will have the option to trade LINK futures (5,000 LINK) and Micro LINK futures (250 LINK). Chainlink, Cardano, and Stellar futures and micro futures will join CME’s expanding cryptocurrency product suite, which includes Bitcoin, Ether, XRP and Solana futures and options on futures.
LINK is the native token underpinning the Chainlink platform, which has securely enabled over $27 trillion in transaction value across 70+ blockchains. Chainlink has published over 18 billion total verified messages onchain and has actively secured over $100 billion across DeFi, with a Total Value Secured (TVS) market share of approximately 70% across all blockchains and over 80% on Ethereum.
LINK is used by organizations globally to pay for oracle services and by network service providers to enhance network security and earn rewards. Last year, Chainlink launched a strategic onchain reserve, which currently holds over 1.5 million LINK. The Chainlink Reserve operates as an extension of Payment Abstraction, which allows institutions to pay for Chainlink services in various alternative assets that are automatically converted to LINK.
“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’s Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products, in an official announcement.
“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.”