$3T Crypto Volume Rips Through CME as Institutions Step on the Gas

Last year, **Institutional demand for crypto derivatives surged late last year with controlled trading venues capturing record future and options as well as spot-quoted activity, signaling deeper liquidity, increased participation (and an acceleration) into 2026. *****

$3T Crypto Activity on CME Confirms the Bull Case Is Getting Stronger

Year-end, however, institutional participation in regulated crypto derivatives strengthened towards year-ending. CME Group reported Jan that “a report by the company, based in its own article on listed products, showed that momentum was evident across those items.” A statement on record fourth-quarter activity, 2726 describing the event was written in . figures reflected rising volume, interest and product use.

Trading activity across CME Group’s cryptocurrency offerings expanded significantly during 2025 as participation widened and liquidity strengthened. The report noted:

The swelling of 2025 was the expansion of > “Our Crypto suite” in its own right. In cryptocurrency futures and options trading we helped facilitate nearly $3T notional (average daily volume) of 280K contracts ($12B) and average daily open interest (ADOI) to 313K ($26B). Paraphrast.

During the fourth quarter, growth intensified with an average daily volume of 92% from one year before and open interest over more than doubled as market participants increasingly moved toward regulated venues. The October release of a record-breaking opening interest holders, who was large open interestholders at the time, further deepened institutional engagement, marking broader and more diverse user base. In this development, Ether derivatives were central to the progress as ether and micro eth futures open interest reached an all-time high in late November with a concurrent peak in ter options positioning.

Alternative crypto derivatives gained traction as product diversification became another quarter’defining theme, with the term “product diversifying” becoming one of the most prominent themes in its history. The report explained ‘We are looking at market demand for diversified, regulated exposure, our Solana (SOL) and $XRP product suite set multiple records in Q4 with the success of this industry. , ” and.

$XRP activity stood out in particular, with the document specifying:

“ $XRP futures and options: Reached an OI of almost $1.5B on October 28, with trading volume totaling $21.5B.”

After December launches for solana and $XRP contracts, spot-quoted futures also hit new highs after the launch of spot-quotted Futures (which is currently in place) with record monthly volume in spot bitcoin future. The report concluded ‘Our innovation in Q4 set the stage for 2026 with regard to our future. As we have done, more than ever, we are focused on providing global participants with the tools needed for a continuous market-stop trading system; including volatility benchmarks, expanded trading-at-settlement functionality, additional crypto futures listings and the transition towards 24/7 trading.

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