CME Group Futures to Launch on Robinhood, Bringing New Trading Opportunities to Retail Investors

Rhea-AI Summary

CME Group and Robinhood have announced the launch of CME's futures products on the Robinhood mobile app. Over the coming weeks, eligible U.S. customers will gain access to futures across five major asset classes, including:

• Four leading U.S. equity indices (S&P 500, Nasdaq-100, Russell 2000, Dow Jones)
• Cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin and Ether)
• Major FX currency pairs
• Metals (gold, silver, copper)
• Commodities (crude oil, natural gas)

Robinhood is introducing a new mobile trading ladder built from scratch, promising efficient trading capabilities with competitive fees. Both companies are providing educational resources, including CME Institute, Futures Fundamentals, Robinhood Learn, and YouTube videos to support traders in making informed decisions.

Positive

• Expansion into retail trading market through Robinhood partnership
• Access to new customer base through Robinhood's mobile platform
• Diversification of trading offerings across five major asset classes
• Potential revenue growth from increased retail trader participation

Negative

• None.

Insights

Financial Services Analyst

The strategic partnership between CME Group and Robinhood represents a landmark development in retail derivatives trading. By integrating CME's diverse futures products across equity indices, cryptocurrencies, FX, metals and energy on Robinhood's platform, this collaboration creates multiple revenue streams and market expansion opportunities:

• Market Expansion: The integration taps into Robinhood's extensive retail user base, potentially driving significant new trading volume for CME's products. This could lead to increased clearing fees and market data revenues.
• Competitive Advantage: First-mover advantage in mobile futures trading could establish Robinhood as the go-to platform for retail derivatives, while CME secures its position in the retail segment before competitors.
• Revenue Diversification: The partnership allows both companies to diversify revenue streams - CME gains retail market exposure while Robinhood adds sophisticated trading products to its offering.
• Technology Innovation: Robinhood's new mobile trading ladder represents a significant technological advancement in making futures trading more accessible, potentially setting new industry standards for user experience.

The broader implications include accelerated retail participation in derivatives markets, potential market structure changes and increased competition among trading platforms. The extensive educational resources provided by both companies also address regulatory concerns about retail trader preparedness, potentially reducing regulatory risks.

Market Structure Analyst

This partnership introduces substantial market structure implications that will reshape derivatives trading dynamics:

• Liquidity Impact: The influx of retail traders could significantly alter market liquidity patterns, potentially leading to increased trading velocity and changed intraday volatility profiles.
• Price Discovery: Retail participation could introduce new price discovery mechanisms, particularly in less liquid contracts where retail order flow might have outsized impacts.
• Market Making Evolution: Market makers will need to adapt their strategies to account for increased retail flow, potentially leading to tighter spreads in popular contracts.
• Infrastructure Requirements: The initiative demands robust technological infrastructure to handle increased message traffic and ensure reliable order execution, particularly during high-volatility periods.

The introduction of simplified mobile trading interfaces could fundamentally change how retail traders interact with futures markets, potentially leading to more sophisticated trading strategies becoming accessible to retail investors. This democratization of futures trading could result in more efficient markets but also introduces new risks that need careful monitoring.

• CME Group introduces its first equity index, FX, cryptocurrency, metals and energy contracts to Robinhood customers

CHICAGO, Jan. 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, and Robinhood Derivatives, LLC ('Robinhood'), today announced that some of CME Group's most popular futures products have started rolling out on the Robinhood mobile app.

Over the coming weeks, all eligible Robinhood customers in the U.S. will have access to futures products across five major asset classes, including the four leading U.S. equity indices  – S&P 500, Nasdaq-100, Russell 2000 and Dow Jones Industrial Average – as well as bitcoin and ether, major FX currency pairs, key metals including gold, silver and copper, and additional commodities such as crude oil and natural gas.

"We are extremely pleased to offer some of our most popular futures contracts to the broad network of retail traders on Robinhood," said Julie Winkler, Chief Commercial Officer at CME Group. "Demand for futures has skyrocketed as a new generation of self-directed traders is seeking diversified investment opportunities. Expanding retail access to futures trading is an integral step in educating and empowering this new crop of investors, and we look forward to working with Robinhood to continue providing the products and resources needed to tap into today's most important markets."

"Launching CME Group futures is a significant step forward in our mission to make Robinhood the best place for active traders," said JB Mackenzie, VP and GM of Futures and International at Robinhood. "We're rolling out an elegant new mobile trading ladder that we built from scratch and allows customers to trade simply and efficiently at the speed of a tap. This reimagined experience, coupled with some of the lowest fees in the industry, makes trading futures at Robinhood an easy decision."

CME Group offers a wide variety of educational resources for both seasoned and first-time traders, including the CME Institute and Futures Fundamentals, which include free online courses, webinars, interactive tutorials and insights from industry experts and academics, allowing users to gain the knowledge, resources and confidence they need to trade futures.

Robinhood also offers a number of educational resources to help customers make informed decisions. This includes futures articles on Robinhood Learn, as well as a series of YouTube videos that will roll out over the coming months and provide additional information on what futures are, how to trade them, and more.

For more information on CME Group and its products, please visit: www.cmegroup.com.

About Robinhood
Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOD) transformed financial services by introducing commission-free stock trading and democratizing access to the markets for millions of investors. Today, Robinhood lets you trade stocks, options, commodity interests, and crypto, invest for retirement, and earn with Robinhood Gold. Headquartered in Menlo Park, California, Robinhood puts customers in the driver's seat, delivering unprecedented value and products intentionally designed for a new generation of investors. Additional information about Robinhood can be found at www.robinhood.com.

Robinhood uses the "Overview" tab of its Investor Relations website (accessible at https://investors.robinhood.com/overview/default.aspx) and its Newsroom (accessible at newsroom.aboutrobinhood.com), as means of disclosing information to the public in a broad, non-exclusionary manner for purposes of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's ("SEC") Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg. FD). Investors should routinely monitor those web pages, in addition to Robinhood's press releases, SEC filings, and public conference calls and webcasts, as information posted on them could be deemed to be material information.

"Robinhood" and the Robinhood feather logo are registered trademarks of Robinhood Markets, Inc. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

About CME Group
As the world's leading derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) enables clients to trade futures, options, cash and OTC markets, optimize portfolios, and analyze data – empowering market participants worldwide to efficiently manage risk and capture opportunities. CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals.  The company offers futures and options on futures trading through the CME Globex platform, fixed income trading via BrokerTec and foreign exchange trading on the EBS platform.  In addition, it operates one of the world's leading central counterparty clearing providers, CME Clearing. 

CME Group, the Globe logo, CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Globex, and E-mini are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.  CBOT and Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc.  NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc.  COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc. BrokerTec is a trademark of BrokerTec Americas LLC and EBS is a trademark of EBS Group LTD. The S&P 500 Index is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC ("S&P DJI"). "S&P®", "S&P 500®", "SPY®", "SPX®", US 500 and The 500 are trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC; Dow Jones®, DJIA® and Dow Jones Industrial Average are service and/or trademarks of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. These trademarks have been licensed for use by Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. Futures contracts based on the S&P 500 Index are not sponsored, endorsed, marketed, or promoted by S&P DJI, and S&P DJI makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in such products. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 

CME-G

 

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SOURCE CME Group

FAQ

What futures products will be available on Robinhood through CME Group?

CME Group will offer futures across five asset classes: U.S. equity indices (S&P 500, Nasdaq-100, Russell 2000, Dow Jones), cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin and Ether), major FX currency pairs, metals (gold, silver, copper), and commodities (crude oil, natural gas).

When will CME Group futures be available to all eligible Robinhood customers?

The futures products are rolling out over the coming weeks to all eligible Robinhood customers in the U.S.

What educational resources are provided for CME futures trading on Robinhood?

Educational resources include CME Institute, Futures Fundamentals, Robinhood Learn articles, and upcoming YouTube video series about futures trading.

What new trading features is Robinhood introducing for CME futures trading?

Robinhood is introducing a new mobile trading ladder built from scratch, designed for simple and efficient trading with competitive fees.

How will the CME Group-Robinhood partnership affect retail traders?

The partnership will provide retail traders with access to diversified investment opportunities through futures trading, with educational resources and competitive fees.