Overview

• Trading will run continuously on CME Globex with a weekly maintenance pause of about two hours, and weekend or holiday executions will be assigned the next business day for trade date, clearing, settlement, and reporting.
• CME said the shift covers bitcoin and ether futures and options and confirmed it will extend to all listed crypto products.
• The exchange cited record 2025 activity as the catalyst, including notional open interest near $39 billion, August average daily volume of about 411,000 contracts, and more than 1,010 large open interest holders.
• The rollout is contingent on CFTC review, which could be delayed because the regulator is operating with reduced capacity during the federal government shutdown.
• Analysts expect continuous trading to shrink long-standing 'CME gaps' and tighten arbitrage with crypto-native venues, and CME plans to add Solana and XRP options on October 13, 2025 as it expands the lineup.