Amid the growing trend of tokenization, derivatives marketplace CME Group is actively planning to launch its own tokenized cash/digital token. Terry Duffy, CEO of CME Group, signaled the new in-house proprietary token during the firm’s Q4 2025 earnings call.
CME Group, also a derivatives exchange, has been offering regulated crypto derivatives since 2017, and the current plan to launch a new digital token is part of its broader ambition to expand services across the market.
For the uninitiated, crypto derivatives are financial tools that let users trade a contract that indicates the price of a coin rather than buy it.
CME Group explores tokenized collateral and margin
The derivatives exchange’s crypto derivatives rely on traditional systems like banks, which operate during fixed business hours and process transactions at scheduled intervals. To combat these issues, the firm is planning to bring a digital token to tokenize cash or collateral.
In other words, CME Group has decided to actively explore tokenized collateral and margin (the required collateral amount) for users leveraging its derivative services.
According to CME Group’s official earnings calls, Terry Duffy responded to a question related to tokenization, saying the firm has a ‘tokenized cash’ initiative with Google and a depository bank that would roll out in 2026.
However, the CME Group executive is very cautious about the risk factors. He added: “So right now, we are looking at different forms of margin, but we are not going to put the enterprise at risk by taking something that we can’t get our arms around on a token.”
As such, the firm prioritizes picking a token issued by a reputable and trustworthy institution for margin purposes.
CME Group’s appetite for crypto expands
The firm, which has amassed a revenue of “$1.6 billion and an operating income of $1.0 billion for Q4 2025,” focuses on further increasing its average daily margin efficiency through crypto trading and other initiatives.
Looking ahead, we’re focused on further increasing the $80 billion in average daily margin efficiencies we provided our market users in Q4, as well as expanding access through initiatives such as U.S. Treasury clearing, 24/7 cryptocurrency trading, and prediction markets.
Terry Duffy CEO of CME Group
In a recent post, the derivatives exchange firm announced launching regulated futures trading connected to Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK), and Stellar (XLM).
On February 9, the firm will begin futures trading for the three major cryptocurrencies, allowing individuals to speculate on their price movements without holding the tokens.
Worth noting, Ripple Prime, the institutional trading platform of Ripple, recently integrated access to derivatives liquidity via Hyperliquid, a decentralized derivatives protocol. This move is of significant importance as institutions can access on-chain derivatives (perpetual futures) and other products via a well-known trading platform.
