International derivatives marketplace CME Group today announced that its Treasury Bill (T-Bill) futures, launched on October 2, have traded more than 6,000 contracts, with open interest exceeding 1,500 contracts.

“In just one week, it is clear that clients are turning to our new T-Bill futures to hedge against the yield risk of 13-week U.S. Treasury securities,” said Agha Mirza, CME Group Global Head of Rates and OTC Products. “With more investors gaining exposure to short-term U.S. government debt, T-Bill futures can provide a capital-efficient risk management tool with opportunities for inter-commodity spread trading and margin offsetting.”

CME Group’s introduction of T-Bill futures corresponds with record risk transfer in the U.S. Treasury market. Across the yield curve, open interest in the company’s current suite of deeply liquid U.S. Treasury futures has reached $2.4 trillion in 2023, an increase of 49% year-over-year, with a record average daily volume of 5.4 million contracts year-to-date.

Since last week’s launch, more than 25 market participants have traded T-Bill futures, with an approximately even split of volume between market-makers and users. T-Bill futures are cash-settled and based on the 13-week U.S. Treasury Bill auction discount yield.

T-Bill futures are listed with, and subject to, the rules of CME, receiving automatic margin offsets against existing CME Group Interest Rate futures. These contracts will become eligible for portfolio margining against other cleared interest rate swaps and futures shortly after launch.