The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, has announced plans to launch Bitcoin Volatility Futures (BVI) on June 1, 2026, pending regulatory approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Unlike traditional bitcoin futures, which track price, the new contracts will settle to the CME CF Bitcoin Volatility Index (BVX), a 30-day forward-looking measure of implied volatility sourced from real-time Bitcoin options order books on CME. Each contract will be sized at $500 times the index, providing a vehicle for traders to isolate and manage volatility risk separate from price direction.
Giovanni Vicioso, CME Group's global head of cryptocurrency products, said, "With our new Bitcoin volatility futures, traders will be able to invest or hedge against the future volatility of bitcoin, allowing them to access a critical new layer of risk management."
Sam Gaer, chief investment officer of Monarq Asset Management's Directional Fund, likened the product to the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) ecosystem, noting that volume begets volume. "If CME’s product construction and composition are clearly defined and easily disseminated, this has the potential to be a watershed moment for Bitcoin volatility as an asset class," Gaer said.
The move follows the successful launch of bitcoin futures in 2017 and options, the debut of spot bitcoin ETFs in 2024, and the rapid growth of options on BlackRock's IBIT — all signals of surging institutional demand for sophisticated crypto risk tools.
