The quiet is breaking — not with a candle… but with a calendar getting deleted.
CME (the “suits’ casino”) is switching its crypto futures + options to an always-on rhythm: 24/7 trading begins Friday, May 29 at 4:00 p.m. Chicago time (≈ 2:00 a.m. PKT on May 30), running on CME Globex, pending regulatory review.
It’s not literally nonstop though — expect at least a 2-hour weekly maintenance window on the weekend. And here’s the sneaky plumbing detail: any trading from Friday evening through Sunday evening gets stamped with the next business day as the trade date, with clearing/settlement/reporting handled the next business day too.
Why I’m paying attention: CME is basically saying demand isn’t “coming”… it’s already here. They’re pointing at $3T notional in 2025 and 2026 YTD activity running hotter with ~407K contracts ADV (+46% YoY) and ~335K average daily open interest (+7% YoY).
What I’m watching next:
• Weekend gap behavior (spot vs futures): does it compress?
• Sunday liquidity + spreads right after the maintenance window
• Whether “Sunday night” becomes a real battleground instead of a thin fake move
TradFi just stopped sleeping — and weekend price action might not feel the same again.