CME to launch 11 Altcoin indexes in alliance with CF Benchmarks

Chicago Mercantile Exchange, a major US derivatives exchange, announced on April 7 that it has partnered with crypto index operator CF Benchmarks to provide 11 indexes tracking the performance of major Altcoins in the market.

Per the announcement, the 11 new cryptocurrency reference rates and real-time indices will go live from April 25 and will be updated daily by CF Benchmarks from thereon. The reference rates are interest rate benchmarks used to set other interest rates for financial instruments.

Targeted cryptocurrencies are Algorand (ALGO), Cosmos (ATOM), Solana (SOL), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), Stella (XLM), Cardano (ADA), Polkadot (DOT), Chainlink (LINK), Polygon (MATIC), and Uniswap (UNI).

The move indicates the rising popularity of cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin and Ethereum, which are largely the only two crypto-assets accepted amongst traditional financial investors and firms. Products, such as indices and reference rates, have recently seen demand in the US following the approval of the first Bitcoin ETF in the country last year.

Tim McCourt, CME Group Global Head of Equity and FX Products, remarked:

“These new benchmarks, which capture over 90% of the total investible cryptocurrency market cap today, are designed to allow traders, institutions and other users to confidently and more accurately manage cryptocurrency price risk, price portfolios or create structured products like ETFs.”

Bitstamp, Coinbase, Gemini, itBit, Kraken, and LMAX Digital are some of the crypto exchanges that would provide pricing data for the indices.