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The CoinDesk index futures owned by the NYSE commenced trading on Monday. Focus now turns to the anticipated USDC rate futures associated with onchain borrowing expenses.
Key points:
- Intercontinental Exchange has initiated trading for cash-settled cryptocurrency futures linked to seven CoinDesk indices, encompassing broad-market and single-asset contracts for bitcoin, ether, solana, XRP, and BNB.
- The newly launched futures are dollar-settled, targeting institutions that seek exposure to crypto prices without the operational and custody complexities of directly holding tokens.
- ICE intends to launch One Month CoinDesk Overnight Rates USDC futures, pending regulatory approval, to integrate decentralized finance-style onchain interest rates into regulated markets and enhance the role of crypto as a funding and credit market.
HONG KONG — The Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, commenced trading a fresh array of cryptocurrency futures linked to CoinDesk benchmarks earlier this week, with aspirations to incorporate onchain interest rates into regulated markets next.
The contracts became available on Monday following their announcement on January 9, according to ICE, providing cash-settled, U.S. dollar denominated futures associated with seven CoinDesk indices.
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This includes broad-market products linked to the CoinDesk 20 and CoinDesk 5 indices, alongside single-asset futures that track bitcoin, ether, solana, XRP, and BNB.
Since they settle in dollars instead of delivering tokens, these products cater to institutions desiring price exposure without the operational and custody difficulties associated with spot crypto.
The next step is ICE’s declared intention to introduce One Month CoinDesk Overnight Rates USDC futures, contingent upon regulatory review, as stated by the companies in a press release.
These offerings aim to represent the annualized effective interest rate paid by borrowers in decentralized finance markets, providing a crypto-native counterpart to how traditional markets trade expectations regarding overnight benchmarks like SOFR — a reference interest rate that assists financial professionals in pricing loans and other dollar-denominated financial products.
Such rate products shift the dialogue toward crypto as a funding and credit market, where traders can express opinions on borrowing costs and liquidity conditions, rather than solely focusing on whether bitcoin will rise or fall.
ICE also highlighted the extensive scale already established around CoinDesk indices, noting that tens of billions of dollars are associated with these benchmarks. The CoinDesk 20, according to ICE, is intended to represent the majority of the digital asset market through a capped market-cap weighted methodology.
