Observations & Insight

The CME Group's "Trade Against a Pro" Futures Trading Challenge runs from June 1 to June 6, 2025, offering participants a risk-free opportunity to practice trading a wide range of futures contracts-including standard and micro-sized products-using a simulated account. The competition is open to eligible residents in select countries, and allows entrants to compete against peers and a seasoned futures professional for a chance to win up to $2,500 in cash prizes, with additional awards for top performers down to 15th place. Participants will also receive exclusive daily educational videos. They must complete required courses to qualify for prizes, making the event both a learning experience and a competitive showcase of trading strategy. For more information and to register, go HERE.

The World Federation of Exchanges is hosting a webinar titled "Sustainability - New Trading, Data and Reporting Opportunities for Exchanges" on Thursday, 29 May 2025 at 14:00 BST. Moderated by Victoria Powell, the event features leaders from Xpansiv, CME Group, Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and VCM SA, who will discuss how exchanges can drive sustainable finance by shaping environmental commodity markets, developing robust data standards, and enabling trusted trading and reporting infrastructure. The session will cover emerging opportunities, registry innovations, and the importance of audit-grade sustainability data, followed by a Q&A, and is open to all interested participants within your organization. To register, go HERE. ~JJL

Lead Stories

Bitcoin Options Traders Eye $300,000 With Record High In Sight
David Pan - Bloomberg
Bitcoin options traders are setting their sights on much higher prices while the largest cryptocurrency flirts with its fairly recent all-time high.
The far out-of-the-money Bitcoin call options expiring on June 27 at the strike price of $300,000 has been a close second behind the $110,000 calls in terms of open interest on the crypto options exchange Deribit. The contracts expiring on June 27 have seen the most open interest, or total number of outstanding contracts, across all expirations.
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Options Traders Boost Long-Term Bearish Dollar Views to Record
Carter Johnson - Bloomberg
Currency options traders are now more pessimistic than they've ever been about the dollar's path over the next year, according to one commonly-cited measure of investor sentiment.
One-year risk reversals - a gauge of how expensive it is to buy versus sell a currency in the options market - fell to minus 28 basis points in favor of puts over calls for the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index. That mark is the most negative level on record, according to Bloomberg data going back to 2011, surpassing even a level briefly hit at the outset of pandemic-driven market gyrations five years ago.
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Traders Bet Euro Rally Has Further to Run Ahead of G-7
Vassilis Karamanis - Bloomberg
Traders are growing more confident that the euro's rally has further to run, with upbeat signals emerging just as Group-of-Seven finance ministers and central bank governors meet in Canada.
Many hedge funds are eyeing gains past $1.20, according to traders familiar with the transactions, who asked not to be identified because they aren't authorized to speak publicly. Data from the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation show that bullish euro bets through options outpaced bearish ones early Tuesday by the widest margin this year, extending Monday's momentum.
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Blue Diamond Fund Had Worst-Ever Month in April Amid Tariff Rout
Donal Griffin - Bloomberg
Swiss hedge fund Blue Diamond Asset Management posted its worst ever monthly result in April even after staging a partial recovery from losses triggered by US President Donald Trump's tariff plans. The $2.2-billion Zug-based fund, which makes complex bets on market volatility, lost 11% in April, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg. It was down as much as 17% early in the month, Bloomberg previously reported.
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Hedge Fund Performance Gaps Widen in Asia After Tariff Upheaval
Bei Hu - Bloomberg
Some Asia-based hedge funds booked exceptional gains in April, while other suffered deep losses as Donald Trump's tariff hikes unsettled markets. The volatility-focused True Partner Fund rose 5.3% in its strongest month in more than five years, according to a newsletter sent to investors. MY.Alpha Management's roughly $700 million Japan hedge fund returned 6.5%, said people with knowledge of the matter. On the other hand, Arete Macro Fund's 9.2% loss in April marked the worst month since it began trading in 2012, according to an investor update. Ariose China Growth Fund slumped 10%, people with knowledge of the matter said.
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Exchanges

Ripple CEO responds to XRP debut on CME
Anand Sinha - TheStreet
Brad Garlinghouse, the billionaire CEO of the blockchain and payments firm Ripple, recently shared his excitement about the launch of regulated XRP futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). Garlinghouse wrote on X, "The launch of regulated XRP Futures on CME Group marks a key institutional milestone for XRP ... and very excited to report that Hidden Road cleared the first block trade on CME at the opening!"
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MIAX Exchange Group - Holiday Schedule - Memorial Day 2025
Mondovisione
Please be advised that the MIAX Options Exchange, MIAX Pearl Options Exchange, MIAX Emerald Options Exchange, MIAX Sapphire Options Exchange, and MIAX Pearl Equities Exchange will be closed on Monday, May 26, 2025 in observance of Memorial Day.
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Regulation & Enforcement

Exchanges plead with SEC to trim CAT reporting requirements; Letters from Cboe, Nasdaq and NYSE ask that the new Atkins administration reduce the amount of data required for the Consolidated Audit Trail, and scrap options data collection entirely.
Eliot Raman Jones - Waters Technology
Conversation around the Consolidated Audit Trail has been contentious since it was first proposed in 2010, with its cost and the information collection at the forefront of those discussions. With a new chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission having taken office last month, three major exchanges are pleading their cases to further declaw the CAT. https://jlne.ws/3H0JCNX

Technology

Trading Technologies' TT FX Connects with EBS and FX Spot+
Trading Technologies
Trading Technologies International, Inc. (TT), a global capital markets technology platform services provider, today announced that it has integrated with the EBS Market central limit order book (CLOB), a regulated, anonymous all-to-all matching platform. It also plans to offer EBS Direct, a relationship based disclosed platform, and CME Group's new FX Spot+ platform. With this new connectivity, TT is substantially expanding its FX liquidity alongside its award-winning futures and options offering.
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Strategy

Big Tech Quandary Leaves Equity-Options Pros Divided on Outlook
Bernard Goyder - Bloomberg
Dip-buying in US stocks was a key theme Monday, but the options market is signaling that there's one crucial area where traders remain far from convinced about the outlook for the next few months: Big Tech.
When it comes to the megacap tech stocks that fueled much of the advance in US equities the past couple years, the narrative is as polarized as it's been in weeks, with options bets on gains almost as pronounced as wagers on losses. It's also a departure from options professionals' stance toward the broad market, where they've taken on a solidly bullish slant as tariff tension has eased.
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Traders must keep a watch on VIX downtrend
Jamie Chisholm - MarketWatch
At about 18.2, the Cboe Volatility index (VIX), an option-derived measure of expected S&P 500 volatility, sits comfortably below its long-run average of 19.5.
The VIX is known as Wall Street's fear gauge because it tends to drift lower as the S&P 500 rises, spiking usually when sharp stock market falls see traders rushing to buy protection through options.
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