FAQ: options on Cryptocurrency futures

Latest Updates

1. What are the latest updates to our Cryptocurrency options suite?

Options on the Solana and XRP futures suite will be available beginning October 13, 2025.*

These options will be available in larger and micro sizes and will physically deliver the corresponding underlying futures contract.

*Pending regulatory review

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2. What is the relationship between Cryptocurrency options and their underlying futures contracts?

Physically settled options (monthly and Weekly options on Bitcoin, Micro Bitcoin, Ether and Micro Ether. Options on SOL, Micro SOL, XRP and Micro XRP will be available October 13, pending regulatory review).

Upon expiration, each physically settled in-the-money option delivers one contract of the respective monthly futures contract, which underlies such option.

Financially settled options (options on BFF)

Upon expiration, each in-the-money option will financially settle to a fixing price. On the last business day of the week, this fixing price will correspond to the final settlement price for BFF. For options expiring before the last business day of the week, the fixing price will be the volume-weighted average price of transactions in Bitcoin Friday futures on the Globex electronic trading platform, during the last 60 minutes of trading on the expiration date of the associated options contract (3:00:00 p.m. - 3:59:59 p.m. New York time).

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3. How do Cryptocurrency options relate to the spot cryptocurrency market?

The value of a Cryptocurrency option is linked to the price of underlying Cryptocurrency futures contract. Cryptocurrency futures, in turn, fluctuate in value relative to price movements in spot bitcoin and ether.

At expiration, physically delivered in-the-money options will deliver the respective underlying futures contract, which may or may not immediately expire depending upon the option expiry chosen (e.g., Weekly options expire into the next available futures contract). Cryptocurrency futures themselves settle into the value of a reference rate benchmarking spot transactions in the respective coin.

Options on Bitcoin Friday futures deliver cash against a fixing price (see 12 below).

Neither Cryptocurrency options nor futures will deliver underlying cryptocurrencies, although the value of these contracts are closely tied to the movement of the associated coin.

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Product details

4. What are the contract specifications?

• Options on Bitcoin futures
• Options on Micro Bitcoin futures
• Options on Bitcoin Friday futures
• Options on Ether futures
• Options on Micro Ether futures

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5. What are the types of settlements available for Cryptocurrency options?

Financially settled:

• Options on Bitcoin Friday futures

Physically settled:

• Options on Bitcoin futures
• Options on Micro Bitcoin futures
• Options on Ether futures
• Options on Micro Ether futures

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6. What is the delivery method for physically delivered Cryptocurrency options?

For all options except Bitcoin Friday futures (BFF), in-the-money Cryptocurrency options physically deliver an underlying futures contract. The futures contract, when delivered, may have time remaining until expiration.

In such a case, traders who are exercised or assigned related to these options will receive a futures contract whose value will fluctuate until the futures contract expires.

In the case of monthly options, the futures contract itself will immediately expire, as monthly options have expiries that align with the cash-settlement of their underlying futures.

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7. Does physical delivery mean that the Cryptocurrency option delivers a spot cryptocurrency coin?

No. Physically deliverable Cryptocurrency options on futures deliver only the nearest expiring futures contract underlying the option.

In the case of Monday through Friday physically delivered options, the delivered futures contract will continue to actively trade post option exercise/assignment.

In the case of monthly physically delivered options, the option will deliver a futures contract that immediately expires to cash, tied to the underlying reference rate price.

Under no circumstances will a Cryptocurrency option or futures deliver a cryptocurrency coin.

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8. What is the options exercise style? Is early exercise possible?

All Cryptocurrency options are European-style. More specifically, physically delivered options are exercisable into a futures contract on the last day of trading only and early exercise is prohibited.

BFF options are also European-style; however, these products are cash delivered, with exercise and assignment determined relative to a fixing price.

At the time of expiration, in-the-money options are automatically exercised, out-of-money options are abandoned. Contrarian instructions are disallowed.

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9. For Weekly options, how is option moneyness determined for exercising and assigning futures positions?

Weekly physically delivered (Monday-Friday) options are exercisable into the underlying futures at 4:00 p.m. London time, with option moneyness determined by a fixing price (see following question) of the underlying futures. In-the-money options are automatically exercised and out-of-money options are abandoned based on the fixing price.

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10. For financially settled options, how is options moneyness determined?

Options on Bitcoin Friday futures are financially settled. The exercise and assignment is determined by reference to a fixing price (see 12 below). Cash delivery is equal to the difference of the fixing price and the strike price times the contract multiplier, for in-the-money options.

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11. How are the daily settlement prices for options on Cryptocurrency futures determined?

CME Group staff determines the daily settlements for the out-of-the-money options based on market activity throughout the day, on all venues (including, but not limited to, Globex, ClearPort and CME Direct). Once the underlying futures have been settled, the implied volatility skews will be used in conjunction with the futures settlement price to derive settlement prices for the options.

In-the-money options are settled automatically by the Exchange in accordance with the put-call parity equation, considering the appropriate cost of carry.

The cost of carry is rounded to the nearest minimum increment of the underlying futures contract. For all products, the interest rate used will be the rate on the Overnight Index Swap (OIS) curve corresponding with the expiration date for each contract.

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12. How is the fixing price for options on Cryptocurrency futures calculated for Weekly options?

The fixing price for physically delivered Cryptocurrency Weekly options is calculated based on the notionally adjusted volume weighted average traded price of the underlying Cryptocurrency futures underlying the options contract during the period of 3:30:00 p.m. - 3:59:59 p.m. London time. Larger-size and Micro-size Bitcoin and Ether options use this fixing price for options whose expiry is prior to the expiration of the underlying futures.

Options on Bitcoin Friday futures are financially settled by reference to a fixing price which, on the last business day of the week, shall correspond to the final settlement price for BFF; and for options expiring prior to the last business day of the week, shall correspond to a volume-weighted average price of transactions in Bitcoin Friday futures on the Globex electronic trading platform, during the last 60 minutes of trading on the expiration date of the associated options contract (3:00:00 p.m. - 3:59:59 p.m. New York time).

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13. Is there a similar fixing, exercise and assignment process for monthly options?

No. Monthly options are exercisable into the underlying futures on the last day of trading only, as determined by the final settlement of the underlying futures. Upon option exercise or assignment, the Cryptocurrency futures contract that is delivered immediately expires to their corresponding underlying reference rate.

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14. What are cryptocurrency reference rates?

Designed by CME Group and CF Benchmarks around IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks, the cryptocurrency reference rates are daily reference rates of the U.S. dollar price of one cryptocurrency (bitcoin, ether) as of 4:00 p.m. London time. They are representative of the relevant cryptocurrency trading activity on constituent exchanges and are geared towards resilience and replicability.

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15. How are the underlying reference rates calculated?

The reference rates are calculated based on the relevant cryptocurrency transactions on all constituent exchanges between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. London time. The price and size of each relevant transaction is recorded and added to a list, which is portioned into 12 equally weighted time intervals of five minutes each. For each partition, a volume-weighted median trade price is calculated from the trade prices and sizes of the relevant transactions across all the constituent exchanges. The reference rates are then determined by taking an equally weighted average of the volume-weighted medians of all partitions.

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16. How can traders take physical delivery of bitcoin and ether?

Market participants desiring physical bitcoin or ether delivery may enter into an Exchange for Related Positions (EFRPs) transaction, which is a privately negotiated trade between two counterparties allowing them to simultaneously exchange a spot and futures position. For spot position holders, an EFRP can be used to swap a long spot position with futures exposure that can be rolled forward. EFRP transactions are governed by Exchange Rule 538.

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17. Are Cryptocurrency options block-eligible?

Yes. Cryptocurrency futures and options are block-eligible and are governed by Exchange Rule 526. The minimum block thresholds may be found here.

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18. When are Cryptocurrency options available for trading?

Cryptocurrency options can be transacted 24/7. Bilateral transactions such as block trades, pursuant to Rule 526, and EFRPs (Exchange for Related Position), pursuant to Rule 538, may be negotiated/executed 24/7 and must be submitted for clearing during the appropriate clearing session. Globex, our electronic platform, is available 23 hours per day beginning Sunday evening at 5:00 p.m. CT and ending on Friday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. CT.

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19. How does the exchange handle holidays that conflict with Cryptocurrency option expiries?

The Exchange will only adjust Cryptocurrency option expiration dates in the event of observed holidays in both the U.S. and UK; otherwise, option expiries will remain at their regularly scheduled date.

Holidays observed by both the U.S. and UK, which are in conflict with a regularly scheduled Cryptocurrency option expiration date, will result in a contract expiration adjustment to the previous trading day.

For the avoidance of doubt, if a holiday is observed only by the U.S. or UK, but not both, then the regularly scheduled expiration will proceed unaffected by such holiday.

Explore our holiday and trading hours.

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20. Where can I find additional material on Cryptocurrency products from CME Group?

Visit cmegroup.com/cryptocurrencies for more information.

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EXCHANGE FEES AND MARGIN

21. What are the Exchange transaction fees for Cryptocurrency options?

Fees can be found on the CME Group Fee Schedule.

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22. On which DCM do Cryptocurrency options trade?

Cryptocurrency options are listed on the CME designated contract market (DCM).

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23. How are the margin requirements for Cryptocurrency options calculated?

CME Clearing uses a SPAN model to determine the margin required to cover at least 99% of anticipated price changes for a product over a given liquidation period. A vast array of inputs is considered, including historic and forward-looking volatility measures, product liquidity, and historically observed correlations, among other things.

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24. Where do Cryptocurrency options fall in CME Clearing's guaranty fund?

Cryptocurrency options fall into our Base Guaranty Fund for futures and options on futures.

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

25. What are the vendor codes?

Please view the vendor codes.

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26. How can I access Globex?

To access Globex, you must have a relationship with a Clearing Member Firm.

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27. Where can I see options analytics?

Customers have access to analytics tools on CME Group options via QuikStrike. View the available tools.

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28. Where can I see prices for Cryptocurrency options?

Delayed quotes will be available on cmegroup.com. You can also access quotes through CME Direct and major quote vendors.

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29. Where can I find block liquidity provider contact information?

View block liquidity provider contact information..

To learn more about Cryptocurrency options, visit the Cryptocurrency homepage.

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30. Do I need a digital wallet to trade Cryptocurrency options?

No. You do not need a digital wallet because Cryptocurrency options either cash settle in USD or settle into their respective Cryptocurrency futures, which are financially settled. Therefore, this does not involve the exchange of cryptocurrency.

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31. What do I need to do to trade Cryptocurrency options?

To trade options, you must open an account with a registered futures broker who will maintain your account and guarantee your trades. In the options business, brokerage firms are known as either a futures commission merchant (FCM) or an introducing broker (IB).

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32. Where can I find Bloomberg contract codes for Cryptocurrency futures option expiries?

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33. Through which market data channel are these products available?

Cryptocurrency options real-time market data is available on MDP Channel 327 and Cryptocurrency options historical data is available through DataMine.

Additionally, real-time market data for the underlying Reference Rates and Real-Time Indexes are available through MDP Channel 213. Reference Rate and Real-Time Index historical data is available through DataMine.

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