CME Group taps growing institutional interest in crypto with Asia reference rates

CME Group, a derivatives marketplace, has launched Bitcoin and Ether reference prices targeted for the Asia Pacific area, highlighting Asia’s growing institutional interest in cryptocurrencies.

CME Group aims to offer these region-specific crypto reference rates on September 11 in collaboration with crypto indices supplier CF Benchmarks.

These reference rates are critical as reliable sources for estimating bitcoin prices, especially when settling cryptocurrency futures contracts.

Starting September 11, Asian crypto institutions and investors will have access to daily BTC and ETH reference rates, which will be released at 4 p.m. Hong Kong time.

While CME Group already provides reference rates for these cryptocurrencies, they are synchronized with the timezones of New York and London, making the new Asia-focused rates more suitable for regional investors.

According to Giovanni Vicioso, CME’s head of crypto products, 37% of crypto volume traded on CME this year happened during non-US hours, with 11% originating in the Asia Pacific region.

Vicioso said, “These APAC reference rates will allow market participants to more accurately and precisely hedge cryptocurrency price risk with timing more closely aligned to their portfolios.”

According to Markus Thielen, Matrixport’s Head of Research, the introduction of these reference rates demonstrates CME’s rising attraction to institutions seeking precise BTC and ETH values during Asian trading hours.

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