CME Group plans to broaden its cryptocurrency derivatives lineup with the launch of Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Uniswap (UNI) futures on October 19, 2026, pending regulatory review. The move brings two major altcoins to one of the world's largest regulated derivatives marketplaces: Bitcoin Cash, the Bitcoin spin-off that split from the original network in 2017, and UNI, the governance token of the Uniswap decentralized exchange protocol.

The announcement lands amid growing institutional participation in crypto derivatives. CME reported average daily crypto futures and options volume of 279,800 contracts during the first half of 2026, representing roughly $8.3 billion in daily notional value.

New Contract Sizes Target Different Traders

The exchange will offer both standard and Micro contracts for each asset. The planned contract sizes are:

• Bitcoin Cash futures: 250 BCH
• Micro Bitcoin Cash futures: 25 BCH
• Uniswap futures: 10,000 UNI
• Micro Uniswap futures: 1,000 UNI

The smaller contracts are designed to give market participants additional flexibility when managing exposure, allowing positions to be sized in smaller increments than the standard contracts. As with CME's existing cryptocurrency products, the new futures will be financially settled and based on CME CF reference rates, with positions resolved in against the benchmark rather than through delivery of the underlying tokens.

The exchange has also expanded its cryptocurrency infrastructure throughout 2026. Its current lineup already includes futures linked to assets such as Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Solana, Cardano, Chainlink, Stellar, Avalanche and Sui, a roster that has grown from its original Bitcoin and Ether core into a broad altcoin range.

Altcoin Derivatives Market Expands

CME said its 2026 additions to the altcoin futures market have generated more than $1 billion in total notional value year to date. The exchange has positioned the new contracts as tools for price discovery, hedging and managing digital asset risk within a regulated marketplace, giving institutional and professional traders a route to exposure without directly holding the underlying coins.

The announcement also follows CME's introduction of a dedicated Uniswap reference rate earlier this year. That benchmark provides pricing data for the UNI market and supports the broader derivatives infrastructure surrounding the token, the type of reference pricing that underpins CME's cash-settled crypto contracts.

If regulatory review proceeds as planned, BCH and UNI futures will begin trading on October 19, giving institutional and professional market participants another regulated venue for gaining or hedging exposure to the two cryptocurrencies. Regulatory clearance remains the immediate checkpoint between the announcement and the scheduled launch date.

Source: CryptoMeter io