Cardano, Chainlink and Stellar go live

Institutional and retail traders will soon gain broader access to CME crypto futures as new contracts tied to leading altcoins prepare to launch on a regulated venue.

CME Group to launch Cardano, Chainlink and Stellar futures

CME Group, the world’s leading derivatives marketplace, announced plans to expand its regulated cryptocurrency derivatives offering with new Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK) and Stellar (Lumens) futures. The new contracts are scheduled to go live on February 9, pending regulatory review.

These launches deepen CME Group’s presence in regulated crypto derivatives and give investors more ways to hedge or gain exposure to altcoin price moves. Moreover, the products are designed to appeal to both institutional users and active retail traders who already access the exchange‘s digital asset suite.

Contract sizes and micro futures structure

Market participants will be able to trade both standard and micro futures contracts across the three new assets. CME Group will list ADA futures sized at 100,000 ADA alongside Micro ADA futures of 10,000 ADA per contract, creating a tiered structure for different account sizes.

Similarly, the exchange will offer LINK futures of 5,000 LINK and Micro LINK futures of 250 LINK. However, liquidity providers and sophisticated traders can still concentrate flow in the larger contracts, while smaller traders may favor the micro format for position sizing.

For Stellar’s token, CME Group will introduce Lumens futures with a contract size of 250,000 Lumens and Micro Lumens futures of 12,500 Lumens. That said, the unified structure across ADA, LINK and Lumens aims to simplify margining and risk management for multi-asset strategies.

Client demand and market maturation

Explaining the move, Giovanni Vicioso, CME Group Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products, highlighted strong client interest in risk-management tools. He noted that, given crypto’s record growth over the last year, customers want trusted, regulated instruments to manage price risk and expand market exposure.

“With these new micro- and larger-size Cardano, Chainlink and Stellar futures contracts, market participants will now have greater choice with enhanced flexibility and more capital-efficiencies,” Vicioso said, framing the new crypto futures expansion as a direct response to institutional and professional demand.

Bob Fitzsimmons, Executive Vice President at Wedbush Securities Inc., said the firm recognizes the continued maturing of regulated crypto futures listings. Moreover, he confirmed Wedbush will keep supporting CME Group’s product expansion for both retail and institutional clients, underlining growing brokerage backing.

Martin Franchi, CEO of NinjaTrader, called the development a “watershed moment” for the futures industry. He argued that digital assets are reaching a global inflection point as they become more mainstream and integrated into investor portfolios, with futures trading gaining popularity among retail investors.

Justin Young, CEO and Co-Founder of Volatility Shares, added that CME Group “has yet again set the standard in innovation” with these offerings. As one of the world’s largest traders of crypto futures, Volatility Shares is eager to see more regulated financial products available for trading and risk management.

Positioning within CME’s broader cryptocurrency suite

These new products will join CME Group’s rapidly expanding cme cryptocurrency suite, which already includes Bitcoin, Ether, XRP and Solana futures, as well as options on futures. Together with existing benchmarks, the Cardano, Chainlink and Stellar listings reinforce the exchange’s role in institutional digital asset price discovery.

For traders already engaged in Cardano futures trading or similar altcoin strategies on other venues, the availability of ADA, LINK and Lumens contracts on a major U.S. derivatives exchange could shift volume toward centrally cleared, regulated markets. However, how quickly liquidity builds will depend on market maker participation and client hedging needs.

Record 2025 trading metrics underline demand

CME Group underscored that the launch comes on the back of strong 2025 activity across its digital asset instruments. The company reported record futures and options average daily volume (ADV) of 278,300 contracts, equal to $12 billion notional, alongside record average open interest (OI) of 313,900 contracts, or $26.4 billion notional.

In futures alone, CME Group reached record ADV of 272,200 contracts, representing $11.7 billion notional, and record average OI of 253,600 contracts, equal to $21.4 billion notional. Moreover, options activity climbed, with record options ADV of 4,100 contracts ($231 million notional) and average OI of 60,400 contracts ($5 billion notional).

Accessing the new CME crypto futures offering

The new listings in the CME crypto futures segment are designed to provide more precise hedging tools and capital-efficient exposure to ADA, LINK and Lumens. That said, traders will still need to evaluate margin requirements, liquidity conditions and contract specifications before deploying complex strategies.

Market participants can find additional technical details, contract specs and educational resources on CME Group’s dedicated crypto products portal. As demand for structured crypto risk management grows, CME Group appears positioned to capture a larger share of both retail and institutional derivatives flow.

In summary, the February 9 launch of Cardano, Chainlink and Stellar contracts broadens CME Group’s altcoin coverage, adds new micro and standard futures sizes, and builds on record 2025 trading volumes in regulated digital asset derivatives.