Event-Based Contracts Expansion to 24-7 Trading
Starting at 4 p.m. Central Time on Friday, May 29, 2026, CME Group will expand event contracts to 24/7 trading, including event contracts on Bitcoin. The technology and timeline align with the upcoming Cryptocurrency Futures and Options Migration to 24-7 Trading.
Event contracts will trade continuously on CME Globex with at least a two-hour weekly maintenance period occurring on weekends. All holiday or weekend trading from Friday evening through Sunday evening will have a trade date of the following business day, with clearing, settlement and regulatory reporting processed the following business day.
This topic outlines information for processing event contracts for 24/7 trading.
Contents
Revision History
Date | Description |
|---|---|
April 22, 2026 | Added Event-Based Contract Maintenance Windows and Market Hours schedule impacts. |
March 25, 2026 | Initial publication |
Key Events and Dates
The following table outlines key project milestones and availability dates, including Market Data Platform 3.0 (MDP 3.0) channel 329 expansion to support 24/7 trading.
Date | Milestone |
Thursday, April 2, 2026 | New Release Launch includes support for:
|
Sunday, April 26, 2026 |
|
Friday, May 29, 2026, starting at 4:00 p.m. CT | Production Launch
|
Testing and Certification
Certification is not required for customer systems already certified to CME MDP 3.0 Market Data, iLink Order Entry, and Drop Copy 4.0 Service for iLink. Testing is strongly encouraged.
New release testing is available from Sunday, 5:00 p.m. Central Time (CT) to Friday, 4:00 p.m. CT.
Weekend testing is not available.
Summary of Impacts
Migration of event contracts on Bitcoin to 24/7 trading - (includes holidays, Saturday and Sunday)
MDP 3.0 channel 329 will migrate to 24/7 trading
New Convenience Gateway (CGW) sessions are required for 24/7 trading
Clients who prefer to continue five day trading can use existing CGW sessions
The CME Globex Sunday startup will be eliminated for event contracts.
Sequence numbers for iLink, Drop Copy, and market data will reset to 1 during the new Saturday startup.
Event-Based Contract Maintenance Windows and Market Hours
This section outlines schedule impacts for all clients trading event-based contracts and currently applicable to Bitcoin event-based contracts.
Day | Type | Close/Pause | Pre-Open/Open |
|---|---|---|---|
Saturday | Extended Maintenance Window | Close: 2:00 a.m. to 3:45 a.m. CT |
|
Monday through Friday | Daily Maintenance Window (with Trade Date roll) | Close: 3:00:00 p.m. to 4:01:00 p.m. CT |
|
Product Scope
With this launch, only the below event contracts on Bitcoin on channel 329 will migrate to weekend trading. Other event contracts will continue on the current schedule.
Product | MDP 3.0: Tag 6937-Asset | iLink/MDP 3.0 Tag 1151-SecurityGroup | Market Data Channel - MDP 3.0 Tag 1180-ApplID | Market Segment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Event contracts on Bitcoin Futures | ECBTC | VB | 329 | 74 |
24/7 Trading
Trading impacts to 24/7 trading for channel 329 align with the Cryptocurrency Futures and Options Migration to 24-7 Trading - 24/7 Trading. Clients are encouraged to review the comprehensive technical information for the cryptocurrency migration to 24/7 trading.
24/7 Client System Impacts
The client system impacts to 24/7 trading for channel 329 align with the Cryptocurrency Futures and Options Migration to 24-7 Trading - 24/7 Client System Impacts.
Event Contract on Bitcoin contracts do not support Good Till orders.
Contact Information
Technical development support: Certification Support for Electronic Trading (CSET)
Production requests, technical assistance, order status: Global Command Center (GCC)
All other inquiries: Global Account Management (GAM)