Wintermute Asia Processes Its First Options Block Trade Through CME Group

Wintermute Asia, the derivatives trading arm of trading firm Wintermute Group, has executed its first options block trade through the world’s second-largest futures exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).

The BTC/USD block was traded between Wintermute Asia and TradFi giant TP ICAP and was cleared by ABN AMRO Clearing Bank, according to a press release. A block trade is a large, privately negotiated securities transaction between institutional firms, facilitated through a broker – a popular trading strategy in TradFi world.

Wintermute Asia said the trade is part of new products built by the firm to meet the growing institutional demand for exposure to digital assets. The company currently offers options in bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH) and a range of other altcoins.

“An increasing number of institutional leaders are actively broadening their portfolios by extending their presence within the digital asset sector and Wintermute is well positioned to play an active role in facilitating trading activity,” said Evgeny Gaevoy, CEO of the Wintermute Group.

CME has become the second largest futures exchange, with only Binance taking a larger market share.

Crypto derivatives trading continues to dominate the market with an almost 80% share versus spot trading as of September, according to data from CCData.