CME Group to Launch 24/7 Crypto Trading: Are Price Gaps Becoming History?

Continuous Trading Era Begins CME Group, the world's largest derivatives exchange, has announced a significant structural change in digital asset markets by moving to a 24/7 trading model for cryptocurrency futures and options starting May 29.
This move aims to synchronize traditional financial infrastructure with the always-active nature of crypto markets.
Tim McCourt, CME's Global Head of Equity and Digital Asset Products, stated that the decision was made following intense demand from professional investors, emphasizing that the need for risk management has reached a peak.
The exchange demonstrated its dominance in this field last year by reaching a trading volume of $3 trillion in crypto products.
'CME Gaps' May Become a Thing of the Past While cryptocurrency markets are active every day of the week, regulated platforms like CME have traditionally been closed on weekends.
This led to price differences known as "CME gaps" between Friday's close and Sunday's open.
With the new model, transitions between weekdays and weekends are expected to become smoother, minimizing these price gaps.
Liquidity and Institutional Adaptation Adam Haeems, Head of Asset Management at Tesseract Group, stated that this change closes the structural gap between crypto-native markets and institutional derivative infrastructure.
Haeems noted that continuous trading opportunities would contribute to narrowing spreads by reducing weekend risks and costs.
However, he also issued a warning: the platform being open does not automatically guarantee deep liquidity.
He reminded that institutional desk staffing levels on weekends might be lower than during the week, suggesting that market improvements will likely be a gradual process rather than an immediate shift.