CME Group launches ethereum options ahead of this week's blockchain Merge

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• CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) has launched options on ethereum (ETH-USD) futures Monday as interest in ETH derivatives soars ahead of the blockchain's long-awaited Merge to Proof-of-Stake from Proof-of-Work this week.
• "Our new options contracts will also complement CME Group's Ether futures which have seen a 43% increase in average daily volume year over year," said Tim McCourt, the company's global head of Equity and FX Products.
• The new contracts deliver one Ether (ETH-USD) futures, sized at 50 ETH per contract, and based on the CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate, which serves as a once-per-day benchmark rate of the ETH price in dollar terms.
• The move came after the derivatives exchange launched bitcoin euro and ether euro futures towards the end of August.
• Previously, (Dec. 6, 2021) CME launched Micro Ether futures to meet digital asset demand.