CME Moves Major Crypto Derivatives to Near 24/7 Trading on Globex

CME Group has rolled out near round-the-clock trading for cryptocurrency futures and options on its Globex platform starting May 29, according to CoinDesk, aligning regulated-market hours more closely with crypto's always-on trading cycle. The extended schedule covers contracts tied to XRP, Bitcoin and Ethereum, and also brings additional tokens into the nearly continuous session, including Solana, Cardano, Chainlink, Stellar, Avalanche and Sui. Under CME's timetable, crypto derivatives shift into continuous trading at 4:00 p.m. Friday and remain largely available through the weekend, with at least a two-hour system maintenance window. The change allows institutional investors to hedge, rebalance and manage risk during weekends and holidays rather than waiting for traditional market hours to reopen. Trades executed on weekends and holidays will still be settled, cleared and reported on the next business day, as CME keeps its existing back-office processing schedule while extending front-end trading to almost 7×24. Beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum, CME said the expansion reflects growing institutional appetite for risk-management tools across a broader set of crypto assets. The notional trading volume of XRP futures over the past year totaled $62.87 billion. In 2025, notional volume across crypto futures and options reached about $3 trillion. Tim McCourt, CME's head of Global Equities, Foreign Exchange and Alternative Products, has previously said client demand for cryptocurrency risk-management tools has accelerated, supporting continued growth in related futures and options activity. CME views near 24/7 access as a response to volatility that can emerge when traditional markets are closed, and as a step that may narrow weekend-to-weekday price gaps, improve cross-time-zone liquidity and bring regulated-market price discovery closer to on-chain and spot-market tempo.