CME Expands Crypto Futures Lineup With Bitcoin Cash and Uniswap

CME Group is adding Bitcoin Cash and Uniswap to its regulated futures lineup. The exchange said Tuesday it plans to launch BCH and UNI contracts on October 19, pending regulatory review.

Traders get a choice between standard-sized contracts and smaller micro versions. Bitcoin Cash futures will represent 250 BCH, with micro contracts covering 25 BCH. Uniswap futures will cover 10,000 UNI, and its own micro contracts will trade at 1,000 UNI.

Bitcoin Cash currently trades for $338 per coin, up more than 25% on the day, on a $6 billion market cap. Uniswap’s native token UNI meanwhile is changing hands at $9.28, up 5.5% in the last 24 hours, with a market cap of $5.75 billion.

Bitcoin Cash split off from Bitcoin in 2017, built for a larger block size and cheaper payments rather than store-of-value use. Uniswap runs the largest decentralized exchange in crypto, and UNI works as the protocol's governance token—holders vote on upgrades rather than collect dividends.

"As crypto markets continue to mature, participants require broader, regulated tools to navigate evolving digital asset related price risk," said Giovanni Vicioso, CME's global head of cryptocurrency products, in a statement. He described the new contracts as built for capital efficiency and exposure to "key crypto networks" inside a round-the-clock, regulated venue.

Part of a broader pattern

BCH and UNI aren't CME's first altcoin bet this year. The exchange announced Avalanche and Sui futures in April, which launched May 4, following February's rollout of Cardano, Chainlink, and Stellar contracts. Those five, plus Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana, made up CME's crypto suite before Tuesday's announcement.

That expansion is already paying off. CME said in its press release that its 2026 push into Cardano, Chainlink, Stellar, Avalanche, and Sui futures has generated more than $1 billion in total notional value year-to-date. Across the whole crypto complex, futures and options averaged 279,800 contracts daily in the first half of 2026—worth $8.3 billion in notional volume—with average open interest of 264,600 contracts, or $15.4 billion.

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Volatility Shares CEO and co-founder Justin Young called the addition "another important step in the continued expansion of CME Group's crypto futures offering," framing it as more tools for clients to "access these assets within a regulated futures framework." The firm already runs leveraged crypto ETFs tied to several of the same altcoins.

Ripple Prime president Noel Kimmel added that institutions managing crypto exposure "need around-the-clock access to regulated derivatives, underpinned by the clearing and financing infrastructure to match." The prime brokerage, which Ripple built from its 2025 acquisition of Hidden Road, secured a $200 million facility in May to expand its own lending capacity.

If regulatory review clears on schedule, Bitcoin Cash and Uniswap will become CME's tenth and eleventh single-asset crypto futures products, joining Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Solana, Cardano, Chainlink, Stellar, Avalanche, and Sui when trading opens October 19.