en.Wedoany.com Reported - On May 12, 2026, CME Group and GPU market intelligence and benchmark data provider Silicon Data jointly announced the launch of the world's first compute power futures market later this year, pending regulatory review. This marks the first time the derivatives market has used on-demand GPU rental rates as a tradable underlying asset, signifying that compute power is transitioning from a decentralized operational cost for AI enterprises into a standardized, risk-manageable financial asset.
The new futures contracts will be directly linked to a GPU benchmark index compiled by Silicon Data, the world's first daily benchmark indicator for on-demand GPU rental rates. The index covers hundreds of thousands of verified pricing records from 50 countries, spanning 50 to 100 trading venues across hyperscale cloud providers, neoclouds, and third-party platforms. According to the joint statement, this product will help traders, financial institutions, AI developers, and cloud service providers manage price volatility risks associated with the multi-trillion-dollar compute power market, providing a hedging tool for long-term planning and capital allocation.
Silicon Data was founded by former DRW trader Carmen Li, and its daily GPU rental price benchmark already tracks mainstream AI GPU categories including NVIDIA A100, H100, and B200. Carmen Li noted in the statement that the current compute power market is highly fragmented, with significant differences across suppliers, regions, and contract structures. The GPU market has historically lacked standardized reference pricing, and the establishment of this benchmark aims to bring consistency, transparency, and real-time visibility.
In the statement, CME Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Terry Duffy referred to compute power as "the new oil of the 21st century," stating that every AI model training run, every trade cleared, and every byte of data processed depends on it. Compute power itself is rapidly becoming an emerging asset class, and investors need a trusted futures market to provide transparency, liquidity, and effective risk management. DRW Founder and CEO Don Wilson also pointed out that while data center spending is growing exponentially, the lack of hedging tools has been a stumbling block, and the launch of compute power futures is a key step in addressing this issue.
From the demand side, AI enterprises are deploying compute power on a massive scale for model training and system deployment, with demand continuing to surge. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink publicly stated last week that, given the shortage of compute power supply and strong demand, compute power futures are likely to spawn a new asset class. The four major tech companies are expected to have capital expenditures of approximately $700 billion in 2026, with the majority directed toward AI infrastructure. The operational stability of related industry chain enterprises is already being tangibly impacted by price fluctuations.
Although the specific contract specifications, such as the denomination currency, contract multiplier, and margin mechanism, were not disclosed in this announcement, the industry expects settlement to rely on the daily published values of the Silicon Data index for cash delivery. The availability of a standardized, tradable benchmark for compute power for the first time means that supply and demand parties such as data centers, cloud service providers, and AI labs now have risk management infrastructure similar to that of the crude oil industry chain. The advancement of the compute power futures listing process will also accelerate the overall market structure transformation of compute power from private negotiation to public pricing, and from over-the-counter trading to centralized clearing.
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