Overview
- Bloomberg and multiple outlets reported on Oct. 1–2 that Cboe is exploring a no-expiry futures contract tied to the VIX but the exchange has not published contract terms, a launch date, or filed regulatory paperwork.
- Perpetual futures replicate standard futures without a set expiry and rely on periodic funding payments between longs and shorts to keep prices close to a reference index.
- Because the VIX is a calculated index that cannot be bought or sold directly, market makers would face extra hedging and basis-risk challenges that ordinary perpetuals avoid.
- The proposal is pitched as a way to let traders who use CFTC-regulated futures avoid securities-based routes, which could change who can access volatility hedging if regulators and clearinghouses approve the design.
- Crypto venues already list thin VIX-style perpetuals and Cboe’s prior work on a Bitcoin volatility index shows the larger trend of applying crypto market structures to traditional derivatives, but liquidity, funding formula and regulatory classification remain open questions.