CME Sets June Launch for Bitcoin Volatility Futures

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In Today's Note

• Macro risk sentiment improved as BTC held above $80K, US equities pushed to fresh highs, and oil eased after US officials signalled that offensive operations against Iran had ended and Project Freedom was paused.
• Stablecoin and tokenisation infrastructure continues to scale, with SoFiUSD expanding to Solana, State Street and Galaxy launching a tokenised liquidity sweep fund, and Securitize, Jump and Jupiter bringing regulated tokenised equities fully onchain.
• Regulatory and market-structure tensions remain in focus, as US banks push back against stablecoin-yield loopholes, CME prepares Bitcoin volatility futures, and Strategy signals it may selectively sell BTC to fund preferred-stock dividends.
  

Market Snapshot: Overnight Moves

Macro & Markets

• BTC has held up above $80K over the past 24 hours after signs of easing tensions between the US and Iran lifted risk-sentiment, with BTC currently trading above $82K - for the first time since Jan 2026. 
• The S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 both continued their march to new all-time highs, closing 0.81% higher and 1.31% higher respectively. 
• Meanwhile, Brent crude oil prices eased below $107 a barrel. 

• US Secretary Marco Rubio said yesterday that the US’s offensive operations against Iran are over — “Operation Epic Fury is concluded” and the aim of Trump’s administration now is to focus on protecting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. 
• Rubio added “We achieved the objectives of that operation.”
• In a bid to allay tensions also, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed yesterday that the truce that was agreed in April between the US and Iran is still in place, downplaying the prospects of a return back to active war and military strikes.

• According to Bloomberg, top US officials had spent the early part of this week on a new plan that would involve the US military helping ships pass through the Hormuz strait. Hours later however, President Trump shelved the operation entirely after he was warned it could escalate conflicts. The president said it would be “paused for a short period of time” in order for both sides to work out a deal to end the conflict. 
• Earlier in the week after President Trump announced Project Freedom, a new initiative to ease traffic in the Strait, it provoked attacks from Iran who argued the US had broken the terms of the ceasefire. 
• As such, on Truth Social, Trump posted yesterday “that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran” and both sides have “mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed.” 

• Macroeconomic data from the US yesterday highlighted a still resilient labour market. According to the JOLTS report, US job openings (the number of jobs available but unfilled in the month) were little changed in March, with available positions falling slightly to 6.87M from a revised 6.92M in February. That was slightly above the median estimate of 6.84M. 
• Hiring jumped by 655,000 to 5.554M, the highest level since February 2024 and the largest month-over-month increase since May 2020. That lifted the hiring rate to 3.5%, the highest since May 2024 and a step up ⁠from the 3.1% rate in February.
  

Stablecoins & Payments

• SoFi Technologies is set to bring its stablecoin, SoFiUSD, to Solana after initially launching it on Ethereum, citing the network’s speed, low transaction costs, and high throughput as key advantages.
• The announcement was made on Tuesday, following the bank’s initial launch of SoFiUSD in December 2025. The stablecoin, issued by SoFi Bank, is fully reserved and pegged to the U.S. dollar. 
• It was first deployed on Ethereum, with SoFi indicating that additional blockchain networks would follow over time.
• SoFiUSD is intended for use by banks, fintechs, and enterprise platforms that require near-instant digital dollar settlement. 
  

Tokenisation & Onchain Infrastructure

• State Street Investment Management and Galaxy Digital have launched the State Street Galaxy Onchain Liquidity Sweep Fund, or SWEEP, a tokenised private liquidity fund designed to support 24/7 onchain cash management.
• The fund allows eligible stablecoin holders to sweep their assets into a yield-bearing product, subject to portfolio availability. 
• SWEEP launches on Solana, with additional integrations planned for Stellar and Ethereum.
• Galaxy provides the tokenisation technology and digital infrastructure for the fund, while Anchorage serves as digital custodian for stablecoin investments. 
• State Street Bank and Trust Company acts as custodian for the fund’s securities holdings.
• The fund supports subscriptions and redemptions using PayPal USD, subject to availability, and is open only to Qualified Purchasers that meet eligibility and minimum investment requirements.
  

DeFi & TradFi

• CME Group, the world’s largest derivatives exchange, plans to launch cash-settled Bitcoin volatility futures on June 1 (pending regulatory approval), enabling traders to gain exposure to BTC volatility without taking directional exposure to Bitcoin’s price.
• The contracts, expected to trade under the ticker BVI, will settle against the CME CF Bitcoin Volatility Index (BVX), a real-time 30-day implied volatility benchmark derived from CME’s regulated Bitcoin options order books and updated every second during trading hours.
• Each futures contract will use a multiplier of $500 × the BVX index value, expanding CME’s crypto derivatives suite with a regulated volatility product designed for hedging, volatility trading, and institutional risk management.

• TD Cowen, a US investment bank, stated that the dispute over stablecoin yield could still delay the U.S. crypto bill, after major bank trade groups rejected a proposed compromise.
• The proposal would ban stablecoin issuers from paying interest similar to bank deposits, while still allowing some transaction-linked rewards.
• Bank groups said the compromise “falls short”, arguing that crypto platforms should not be able to offer yield-like incentives that could draw deposits away from the banking system.

• Strategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin treasury, said during its Q1 2026 earnings call that it may begin selectively selling BTC to fund dividends tied to STRC, its high-yield perpetual preferred stock that has raised $8.5B since launch, while the firm currently holds 818,334 BTC (~3.9% of total supply) valued at ~$66.5B.
• Michael Saylor stated, “We’ll probably sell some bitcoin to fund the dividend, just to inoculate the market, just to send the message that we did it,” adding that BTC would only need to appreciate at a 2.3% annual rate for existing holdings to indefinitely support STRC dividend obligations without further equity issuance.
• The comments mark a shift from Strategy’s previous “never sell” stance on Bitcoin, with executives now prioritising growth in “bitcoin per share” under its “digital credit” strategy after acquiring 89,599 BTC in Q1 and another 56,235 BTC early in Q2.

• Securitize, Jump Trading Group and Jupiter have launched fully onchain, regulated trading for tokenised equities, combining compliant securities infrastructure with institutional liquidity and DeFi distribution.
• The integration allows real equities to be issued, accessed and traded onchain, with Securitize providing the regulated broker-dealer, ATS, transfer agent and KYC-enabled wallet infrastructure. Jump Trading Group supplies liquidity through its PropAMM on Solana, while Jupiter acts as the user-facing access point for investors.
• Securitize said the launch moves tokenised equities beyond issuance and towards scalable secondary markets. The structure is designed to support regulated execution and legally recognised ownership under existing securities rules, including Regulation NMS.
• For issuers, the launch shows that tokenised equities can support real liquidity and regulated trading at scale. For distribution platforms, it offers a way to provide access to tokenised securities without taking on the full regulatory burden. For the broader market, it is another sign that tokenisation is moving from proof-of-concept into live capital markets infrastructure.

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