CME Bitcoin Futures Trading to Run on Google Cloud After $1 Billion Investment From Alphabet

The Google logo is seen outside their headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., on Aug. 18, 2004. Clay McLachlan/Reuters

The CME Group and Google Cloud have entered a 10-year strategic partnership after a $1 billion investment from Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc.

The equity investment was made through the company’s non-voting convertible preferred stock.

What Happened

Under the terms of the deal, CME’s trading systems will be moved to Google Cloud next year.

CME is responsible for bringing the first Bitcoin futures contract to market in 2017. The institution-focused crypto exchange also offers micro Bitcoin futures, Ethereum futures, and most recently, micro Ethereum futures.

The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, the first U.S. Bitcoin-linked ETF, offers investors exposure to Bitcoin by way of CME Bitcoin Futures contracts.

As of next year, the trading operations of all these crypto derivatives products would be facilitated through Google Cloud infrastructure.

“This partnership will enable CME Group to bring new products and services to market faster—all in a flexible and scalable environment that will create a wide range of opportunities for the marketplace,” said Terry Duffy, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, CME Group.

According to Reuters, the deal marks a “big win” for Google’s cloud business against competitors like Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp.

Price Action

Google traded 0.39 percent higher on Friday, closing at a price of $2,977.04 per share.

By Samyuktha Sriram

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