CME FX at 15-Year High as Volatility Spikes
Posted by Colin Lambert. Last updated: April 8, 2026
CME Group has joined the first group of reporting platforms in unveiling a spike in FX volumes in March, with futures and options volumes at a 15-year high and the second highest ever.
Average daily volume (ADV) in notional terms was $143 billion per day, matching the $143 billion reported in September 2011 and behind the current record $161 billion reported in May 2010. This is up 19.3% year-on-year. Futures-only notional ADV was $135 billion, while there were surges in options ADV in AUD (+215%), CHF (+69%), MXN (+67%) and GBP (+35%).
CME says activity was up across the board, with futures in EUR (+25%), AUD (+84%), NZD (+32%) and GBP (+101%) leading the way on a year-on-year basis. EUR ADV in notional terms was $58 billion in March, and a record for single-day traded volume was hit at $165 billion during the month. Single-day records were also set for NZD futures at $7.4 billion, as well as FX block and EFPs at 399,000 contracts.
Monthly open interest was also up across the board, and included a new record for futures and options average daily open interest of 3.7 million contracts ($371 billion), of which FX futures ADOI was 2.7 million contracts ($264 billion). Within this, new peaks were set in JPY ASOI at 398,000 contracts, AUD at 293,000 contracts, and GBP at 296,000 contracts.
CME FX Link also hit a new high at $6.35 billion per day, this is up 46.7% from February and up 41.1% year-on-year. It also marks the first time FX Link has breached the $6 billion threshold for monthly ADV.
Unsurprisingly, given the surge in activity, the G5 CVOL Index averaged 8.95 in March, the highest it has been since May 2025.
Meanwhile EBS also saw a surge in activity, reporting ADV across spot and NDFs of $86.3 billion, the highest since April 2025. This is up 26.2% month-on-month and up 13.6% year-on-year – it is also the seventh highest ADV on the platform since March 2020 and the onset of the pandemic.
With most of the reporting now done, March was clearly a stellar month for FX platforms, across the six spot (including CME) venues to report, ADV grew by an average of 31.6% year-on-year.
