CME saw nearly 400 ETH futures contracts traded on first full market day

CME's ether (ETH) futures product saw 388 contracts traded on its opening day, according to Tim McCourt, CME's Managing Director and Global Head of Equity Products.

That's about 19,400 ETH, or $33 million. “The response to Ether has been overwhelming,” said McCourt.

Monday marked the first full trading day of CME's ether (ETH) futures product, with initial trading having begun at 6:00 PM ET on Sunday.

The derivatives exchange first announced plans to launch ETH futures in mid-December. The contracts — each representing 50 ETH — are cash-settled and based on the CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate — the platform's price discovery mechanism for ETH. There's a minimum block trade of five contracts.

McCourt disclosed the first day's metrics on a forthcoming episode of The Scoop. He detailed the road to launch and how ETH futures fit into CME's broader product roadmap.

The ETH product joins CME's bitcoin futures product, a popular offering for those looking for exposure. Open interest hit nearly $1.5 billion in December.

The bitcoin futures product saw nearly 1,000 contracts traded on day one, according to McCourt. Adjusting for market cap and other metrics between the two cryptos, McCourt said he's very encouraged by the launch numbers.

McCourt said there's already pressure for an additional offering, but did not disclose plans for what that might be. He said he's interested in seeing what requests rise to the top of the pile in the wake of the ETH futures launch.