CME Group said on Tuesday that it has begun facilitating trades for options on Solana and XRP futures, giving traders a new way to speculate on price swings and manage risk in the U.S.
The first trade involving options for XRP futures took place on Sunday between market maker Wintermute and crypto asset manager Superstate, CME said in a blog post.
Meanwhile, the first trade involving options for Solana futures took place on Monday between institutional crypto firm Galaxy Digital and crypto trading firm Cumberland DRW, CME added.
The debut reflects how “market participants increasingly are looking to manage their exposure and pursue new opportunities across a wider range of crypto instruments,” Giovanni Vicioso, global head of cryptocurrency products at CME, said in a statement. “We are pleased with the early support we’ve seen from a wide range of clients for these new contracts.”
CME hasn’t published information yet on how much volume options on Solana and XRP futures have generated, but its website shows that five contracts for each cryptocurrency are currently outstanding. Equivalent products for Bitcoin and Ethereum had 12,431 and 37,201 contracts outstanding on Tuesday, respectively.
Decrypt has reached out to CME for comment.
Last month, CME had a record-breaking quarter in terms of crypto futures, according to a report published on Monday. CME said that the value of outstanding contracts, also known as notional open interest, reached a record $39 billion in mid-September.
CME began supporting Solana futures in March and XRP futures in May. In the third quarter, a daily average of 4,300 contacts changed hands for Solana futures, with 2,100 contacts for XRP suggesting that it has been relatively less popular.
Under previous leadership, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that XRP and Solana were securities in high-profile lawsuits, but the CME’s move further validates their status as commodities, which fall under the remit of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Ethan Ren, head of options at Wintermute, suggested in a statement that CME’s adoption of options for Solana and XRP futures is indicative of an industry continuing to mature.
“The launch marks an important extension of listed crypto derivatives beyond BTC and ETH, reflecting growing sophistication in how market participants manage exposure,” he said. “We see this as a positive signal for the continued evolution and depth of crypto options markets.”
