CME Signals Proprietary Coin After Crypto Volumes Hit $12B
Derivatives giant CME Group is exploring the launch of its own cryptocurrency, CEO Terry Duffy revealed during the company's Q4 2025 earnings call on February 4, 2026. The announcement marks the first time the exchange has explicitly floated creating a proprietary, CME-issued asset to run on a decentralized network. The comments came in response to a question about the firm's strategy for tokenized collateral.
Not only are we looking at tokenized cash, we’re looking at different initiatives with our own coin.
— Terry Duffy, CEO of CME Group.
This potential move into asset creation builds on CME's significant growth in digital asset derivatives. In 2025, the exchange's average daily crypto trading volume hit a record $12 billion. The firm is also expanding its offerings with the planned launch of 24/7 trading for all crypto futures in the second quarter and new futures contracts for Cardano, Chainlink, and Stellar.
New Token Heats Up Wall Street's Digital Asset Race
Duffy's mention of a "CME Coin" is distinct from the company's existing collaboration with Google on a "tokenized cash" solution, which is scheduled to launch later this year. While that project involves a depository bank, the proposed proprietary coin could be used directly by "other of our industry participants" on a decentralized network, signaling a deeper push into blockchain-native infrastructure.
CME's exploration puts it in direct competition with other financial institutions that are tokenizing assets to streamline settlement. JPMorgan has already deployed its JPM Coin for tokenized deposits on Coinbase’s layer-2 blockchain, Base, setting a precedent for using blockchain to move money on Wall Street. The potential entry of a CME-backed token would represent another major step in integrating traditional financial markets with decentralized technology, potentially setting a new standard for institutional-grade collateral.
