A futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell a specific quantity of an asset at a set price on a predetermined future date. Investors use them to lock in prices or to bet on price moves; like agreeing today on the price of a loaf of bread you'll buy months from now to avoid surprise cost changes. Because these deals often require only a small upfront payment compared with the contract size, they can both protect against risk and magnify gains or losses.
cash-settledfinancial
Cash-settled describes a financial contract that is resolved by paying the monetary difference between agreed and actual prices, instead of delivering the underlying asset. For investors, it matters because it simplifies trades—like settling a bet with cash rather than handing over the item—and affects liquidity, tax treatment, and counterparty exposure, since you receive or pay only the value change rather than owning or transferring the actual security or commodity.
capped market capitalization-weightedtechnical
An index weighting method that assigns each company a share based on its total market value but places a hard limit on how large any single company’s share can be. Think of a fruit basket where the biggest fruits are trimmed so one type doesn’t dominate; this keeps the index more balanced and reduces the impact of a few very large companies on overall performance. For investors, it preserves market-based exposure while lowering concentration risk and making returns less dependent on a handful of giants.
market capitalization-weightedtechnical
A market capitalization-weighted approach gives each company a share of an index or portfolio that matches its total market value, so larger companies take bigger slices and smaller ones take tinier slices. For investors this matters because performance, risk and fund flows are driven mostly by the biggest firms—like an orchestra where the loudest instruments determine the tune—affecting diversification, concentration and how closely a fund tracks broad market moves.
decentralized financefinancial
Decentralized finance, often called DeFi, is a way of using digital technology to offer financial services like lending, borrowing, and trading without relying on traditional banks or institutions. It operates on open networks where anyone can participate, much like a digital marketplace that runs on shared computer systems. For investors, DeFi provides more direct control over their assets and access to financial activities outside conventional systems.
overnight ratesfinancial
Overnight rates are the interest rates banks charge each other for very short loans that are repaid the next business day, like the price of borrowing a cup of coffee today and paying for it tomorrow. Investors care because these rates set the baseline cost of short-term cash, influence other interest rates across the economy, affect bond yields and corporate borrowing costs, and therefore help shape stock valuations and market liquidity.
SOFRfinancial
The Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) is a market benchmark that measures the cost of borrowing cash overnight using U.S. Treasury securities as collateral. Investors watch SOFR because it acts like a speedometer for short-term interest costs—affecting loan rates, bond yields and the pricing of interest-rate contracts—so movements change borrowing expenses, cash returns and the value of interest-sensitive investments.
€STRfinancial
The €STR is the euro short-term reference rate showing the average interest banks pay to borrow unsecured cash in euros overnight; it is published daily by the European central banking authority using actual transaction data. Investors use €STR as a neutral yardstick for pricing short-term loans, floating-rate bonds and derivatives and for discounting future cash flows—much like a thermometer that tells you the current cost of money so you can value investments and manage interest-rate risk.
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, today announced the launch of Cryptocurrency futures contracts based on seven CoinDesk Indices including CoinDesk 20 and CoinDesk 5 Indices. The contracts include:
The CoinDesk indexed contracts are U.S. dollar denominated and cash-settled. Over $40 billion in assets under management are tied to CoinDesk Indices tracking the price of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ether and Solana.
The flagship CoinDesk 20 Index tracks the performance of digital assets, including Bitcoin, BNB, Ethereum and Solana using a capped market capitalization-weighted methodology to ensure broad exposure and diversification benefits across all constituents. Over 90% of the digital asset market is captured by the CoinDesk 20 Index and the total volume of linked products is worth over $16 billion. The CoinDesk 5 Index is market capitalization-weighted and tracks the performance of the five largest constituents of the CoinDesk 20.
“The digital asset space is evolving rapidly, and we are excited to collaborate with CoinDesk to launch these new futures contracts,” said Jennifer Ilkiw, President of ICE Futures U.S. “The launch expands ICE’s existing relationship with CoinDesk and will bring further transparency to the digital asset market.”
“CoinDesk Indices were built to serve as trusted benchmarks for the digital asset sector, and this launch with ICE advances that mission into regulated futures markets,” said David LaValle, President of CoinDesk Data and Indices. “The partnership expands the reach of our benchmarks while offering market participants familiar, transparent, and reliable ways to engage with digital assets.”
Meanwhile, ICE plans to launch One Month CoinDesk Overnight Rates (CDOR) USDC futures based on CoinDesk’s Overnight Rate, subject to regulatory review. CDOR rates are daily benchmarks that reflect the annualized effective interest rate paid by borrowers in decentralized finance markets and are structurally similar to traditional overnight rates like SOFR or €STR.
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE) is a Fortune 500 company that designs, builds, and operates digital networks that connect people to opportunity. We provide financial technology and data services across major asset classes helping our customers access mission-critical workflow tools that increase transparency and efficiency. ICE’s futures, equity, and options exchanges -- including the New York Stock Exchange -- and clearing houses help people invest, raise capital and manage risk. We offer some of the world’s largest markets to trade and clear energy and environmental products. Our fixed income, data services and execution capabilities provide information, analytics and platforms that help our customers streamline processes and capitalize on opportunities. At ICE Mortgage Technology, we are transforming U.S. housing finance, from initial consumer engagement through loan production, closing, registration and the long-term servicing relationship. Together, ICE transforms, streamlines, and automates industries to connect our customers to opportunity.
Trademarks of ICE and/or its affiliates include Intercontinental Exchange, ICE, ICE block design, NYSE and New York Stock Exchange. Information regarding additional trademarks and intellectual property rights of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and/or its affiliates is located here. Key Information Documents for certain products covered by the EU Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products Regulation can be accessed on the relevant exchange website under the heading “Key Information Documents (KIDS).”
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 -- Statements in this press release regarding ICE's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see ICE's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors in ICE's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, as filed with the SEC on February 5, 2026.
