CME Restores Forex Platform After Major Outage

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is one of the world’s most influential financial marketplaces, renowned for pioneering futures and derivatives trading. Founded in 1898 as the Chicago Butter and Egg Board, the CME began as an agricultural commodities exchange, providing a platform for trading butter, eggs, and other perishable goods. Its roots trace back to the Chicago Produce Exchange, established in 1874, which introduced standardized grading and trading practices for perishable products. In 1919, the organization restructured and was renamed the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, broadening its scope beyond butter and eggs to include commodities like potatoes, onions, and cheese. The CME’s most transformative achievement came in 1972, when it launched the International Monetary Market (IMM), introducing the world’s first financial futures contracts—initially on foreign currencies. This innovation revolutionized global finance, paving the way for futures on interest rates, stock indices, and more. The CME continued to innovate, becoming the first major exchange to go public in 2002 and demutualizing from its traditional member-owned structure. In 2007, it merged with the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) to form CME Group, a powerhouse in derivatives trading. Today, CME Group operates multiple exchanges—including the CME, CBOT, NYMEX, and COMEX—offering a vast array of products: commodities, equity indices, foreign exchange, interest rates, and even weather derivatives. A leader in electronic trading, the CME’s Globex platform now handles the majority of its transactions, reflecting its embrace of technology. The CME’s evolution from a local agricultural board to a global financial leader underscores its role in shaping modern markets and its ongoing impact on business and technology trends worldwide.

CME Group Inc. is the world's largest operator of financial derivatives exchanges, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois[1]. As a global financial services company, CME Group operates multiple major exchanges including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), and the Commodity Exchange (COMEX), serving approximately 150 countries[1]. ## What CME Group Does CME Group provides a comprehensive derivatives marketplace where institutions and individuals trade futures and options across all major asset classes[5]. The company's platforms facilitate trading in agricultural products, currencies, energy, interest rates, metals, stock indexes, and cryptocurrency futures[1]. Beyond its core exchange operations, CME Group operates CME Globex, an electronic trading platform, along with BrokerTec for fixed-income trading and EBS for foreign exchange spot trading[1]. The company also runs CME Clearing, serving as a counterparty to every cleared transaction within its marketplace[1]. ## Recent Achievements and Growth CME Group has demonstrated exceptional performance in recent years. In 2024, the company achieved record volumes of 26.5 million contracts daily, marking double-digit volume growth across every asset class[2]. This momentum continued into 2025, with the company reporting record revenue of $1.7 billion in the second quarter, representing 10% growth compared to Q2 2024, and record average daily volume of 30.2 million contracts[4]. The company has expanded its product offerings significantly, launching successful innovations including Bitcoin Friday futures—described as the most successful crypto launch in CME Group history—and U.S. credit futures[2]. Its retail customer base has nearly tripled over the past decade and grew 14% in 2024[3]. ## Notable