CME Group, the global derivatives marketplace, is exploring issuing its own token and is piloting tokenized cash infrastructure with Google as it plans to make collateral and settlement more efficient without adding risk to its clearinghouse, Chief Executive Terry Duffy said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.
Duffy said CME is working on a tokenized cash project with Google and a depository bank that is expected to launch this year. In parallel, the exchange is evaluating a CME-branded token that could run on a decentralized network and be used by other firms in the industry.
So not only are we looking at tokenized cash, obviously, we’re looking at different initiatives with our own coin that we could potentially put on a decentralized network for other of our industry participants to use.
Duffy stressed that any move into tokenized collateral will be tightly controlled, saying CME’s plan will depend on the issuer and the risk profile of the instrument, including whether it must be heavily discounted before being counted as margin.
If you were to give me a token from a systemically important financial institution, I would probably be more comfortable than maybe a third- or fourth-tier bank,” Duffy said, adding that CME will not “put the enterprise at risk.
Crypto ADV Up 92% to 379,000 as CME Adds Blockchain Tools, 24/7 Trading
Cryptocurrency derivatives delivered a record year. In the fourth quarter, CME’s crypto arm handled an average daily volume of 379,000 contracts, up 92%, representing about $13 billion in notional value traded per day. The exchange plans to add Cardano, Chainlink, and Stellar futures in February and will introduce 24/7 trading for its crypto suite next quarter.
CME is pushing into prediction markets via event contracts on financial benchmarks, economic indicators, and sports, supported by distribution partnerships with FanDuel and DraftKings, among others.
However, Duffy said CME will avoid becoming embroiled in legal disputes over whether sports-related contracts are gambling and will continue as long as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission classifies them as swaps.
2025 Volume Up 6% To 28.1 Million Contracts a Day
2025 marked CME’s fifth straight year of record trading activity, with average daily volume up 6% to 28.1 million contracts. The exchange reported all-time highs in interest rate, energy, metals, agricultural, and crypto products, while international volumes rose to 8.4 million contracts per day, up 8% from the previous record.
Market Data Up 15% to $208m With Google Cloud Migration Under Way
CME raised list prices on most market data products by 3.5% from 1 January, continuing a “price-to-value” approach. Market data revenue grew for the 31st consecutive quarter, rising 15% in the fourth quarter to $208 million, driven by new users, new products, and pricing.
The exchange’s migration to Google Cloud is progressing, with non-ultra-low-latency systems due to complete their move early this year.
Ultra-low-latency markets will use a purpose-built Chicago cloud region that should be ready for client testing in 2027. Cloud-related spending was about $29 million in the fourth quarter and roughly $100 million for 2025.
Cross-Margin Savings Up To $1.5 Billion a Day; $4.6 Billion Cash on Hand
In December 2025, CME won approval for CME Securities Clearing from the US Securities and Exchange Commission and plans to launch the service this year ahead of the SEC’s US Treasury clearing mandate.
Furthermore, its cross-margining arrangement with the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation, or FICC, delivered daily margin savings of about $1 billion to $1.5 billion in 2025 and is growing.
The company ended the year with $4.6 billion in cash, including $1.3 billion in remaining proceeds from its OSTTRA transaction. The board has authorized using those proceeds for share buybacks, and CME has already repurchased $256 million of stock in the fourth quarter and $276 million so far in 2026, while paying $3.9 billion in dividends over 2025.
