CME + Silicon Data

CME's role

CME Group operates listed futures and options markets across asset classes — energy, agriculture, metals, financial. CME's involvement provides:

• Established exchange infrastructure.
• Regulatory relationships and frameworks.
• Existing relationships with hedgers and speculators.
• Clearing and settlement mechanisms.
• Liquidity from CME's broader trading population.

Silicon Data's role

Silicon Data is a specialist provider focused on AI compute price data. The role:

• Constructing and maintaining the reference price index.
• Sourcing transaction data from neoclouds and other providers.
• Publishing methodology and underlying data.
• Operating the index in a manipulation-resistant manner.

Silicon Data is the analytical underpinning; CME is the trading venue.

May 2026 announcement

The CME-Silicon Data compute futures market launched in May 2026. The launch followed extensive preparation:

• Methodology development through 2024-2025.
• Regulatory approval process.
• Pilot programs with strategic counterparties.
• Public consultation on contract specifications.

The launch was the first listed compute futures market — a category-defining moment.

Contract specifications

Initial contract specifications cover specific GPU types (H100, H200, others) at standardized sizes and tenors. Monthly settlement schedule following standard commodity futures conventions.

Index methodology

The Silicon Data index aggregates transaction prices from observable sources, weighting by volume and recency. The exact methodology balances transparency with manipulation resistance.

Expected participants

Participants include:

• Neoclouds hedging revenue.
• AI customers locking forward compute costs.
• Speculators taking views on AI compute trajectory.
• Basis traders arbitraging spot-futures spreads.
• Market makers providing liquidity.

Takeaway

The CME-Silicon Data launch is the most important compute-futures development. The next chapter examines the competing ICE-Ornn offering.