CME to Launch Bitcoin Volatility Futures on June 1, 2026

CME Group plans to launch Bitcoin Volatility futures, ticker BVI, on June 1, 2026, subject to Commodity Futures Trading Commission approval. Each contract will be sized at $500 multiplied by the CME CF Bitcoin Volatility Index.

The contracts will cash-settle to the CME CF Bitcoin Volatility Index Settlement (BVXS), a 30-day forward-looking implied volatility benchmark derived from real-time order book data on CME Bitcoin and Micro Bitcoin options. The settlement benchmark does not use spot prices or over-the-counter data.

The BVI index will publish once per second between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. Central Time on CME trading days, using a variance-swap pricing model applied to the full CME options order book. The BVXS settlement rate averages six five-minute BVI partitions each day to produce a replicable final figure. Final settlement calculations run at 4:00 p.m. London time on each contract’s final settlement day. CME and CF Benchmarks launched the BVI index on April 9, 2024, and back-tested history is available for earlier periods.

Each futures contract equals $500 times the index value, which allows traders to take long or short positions on implied volatility without holding bitcoin. Trading is expected to occur on CME Globex. The futures will be block-eligible and will offer Basis Trade at Index Close functionality.

Giovanni Vicioso, CME’s global head of cryptocurrency products, said the product will let traders invest in or hedge against future bitcoin volatility. David Schlageter of Morgan Stanley called the futures “an important tool for market participants to better manage portfolio risk by directly trading volatility.” Sui Chung, CEO of CF Benchmarks, described the contract as “a milestone in bitcoin’s maturation as an asset class.”

CME entered crypto markets in 2017 with bitcoin futures and has added micro bitcoin futures, options on those products, and ether contracts since then. The BVI futures add a regulated instrument focused on implied volatility rather than directional price exposure.

The launch remains under CFTC review. As of the announcement, no regulated bitcoin volatility futures were listed on major U.S. exchanges. CME stated the contract is intended to provide institutions a regulated way to hedge or gain exposure to implied volatility independently of spot price moves.