CME Group, a derivatives marketplace, announced today that it achieved its second-highest monthly volume on record in August. The company's average daily volume (ADV) surged by 31% to 31.7 million contracts, driven by significant increases across all six asset classes.

Record Trading Volumes Achieved

The ADV for interest rate contracts set a new record at 18.3 million contracts. The U.S. Treasury complex also reached an all-time high, with a monthly ADV of 11.5 million contracts. This included record volumes for 2-year, 5-year, and 30-year futures contracts.

Additionally, SOFR futures and options volumes rose by 48% to 6.3 million contracts. The BrokerTec cash U.S. Treasury notional volume also saw a year-to-date peak, reaching $249 billion on August 5.

In the Foreign Exchange sector, ADV increased by 36%. Notably, Japanese Yen futures ADV grew by 47% to 199,000 contracts, Canadian Dollar futures ADV rose by 41% to 98,000 contracts, and Mexican Peso futures ADV saw a 44% increase to 75,000 contracts.

Crypto Expansion for CME

CME is considering introducing spot Bitcoin trading for its clients, as reported by Finance Magnates. While CME has not officially confirmed or commented on these plans, the move comes amid rising demand for Bitcoin from Wall Street investors.

If implemented, this would mark CME's expansion into the spot Bitcoin market, building on its existing cryptocurrency futures contracts for Bitcoin and Ether. CME is currently a leading platform for Bitcoin futures, surpassing Binance in terms of open interest.

The report notes that the potential launch of spot Bitcoin trading could facilitate easier basis trades, a strategy used by professional traders involving borrowing funds to sell futures while buying the underlying asset to exploit price discrepancies.