Decrypt: FalconX Carries Out ‘First’ CME Group Solana Futures Block Trade

Digital asset prime broker FalconX said Saturday it has completed the “first-ever” block trade for CME Group's Solana futures with StoneX as counterparty, a day ahead of the SOL futures launch of new contracts expected on March 17.

The San Mateo, California headquartered broker executed the transaction with the goal of providing a way "to manage risk and price exposure on a regulated venue," Josh Barkhordar, head of U.S. sales at the firm said in a statement.

A block trade in this context is a large-volume, privately negotiated transaction of the futures contracts, done outside the open market to avoid disrupting the asset’s price.

CME Group debuted the Solana futures contract in late February to meet "increasing client demand," as it vies to position the offering as a precursor and "primary pre-requisite" to a SOL ETF.

​Several asset management firms have filed applications with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch Solana ETFs.

Notably, Franklin Templeton, managing over $1.5 trillion in assets, submitted a filing in late February 2025. Other firms, including Grayscale, 21Shares, Bitwise, VanEck, and Canary Capital, have also filed for spot Solana ETFs.

Solana futures follow the pattern established with Bitcoin and Ethereum, where futures trading preceded ETF authorization and approval from a regulatory body.

The new contracts come in two sizes: standard contracts representing 500 SOL and micro contracts representing 25 SOL.

The futures are then cash-settled based on the CME CF Solana-Dollar Reference Rate, calculated daily at 4:00 p.m. London time, providing a standardized benchmark for SOL's U.S. dollar price.

FalconX operates as a key liquidity provider for CME Group's crypto derivatives suite. The company reports executing over $1.5 trillion in trading volume across over 400 tokens for approximately 600 institutions.

The firm has pursued strategic expansion in institutional crypto markets, acquiring derivatives platform Arbelos Markets in January 2025 and partnering with liquidity and data solutions provider TP ICAP's Fusion Digital Assets in February last year.

Meanwhile, CME Group claims that its crypto derivatives market has demonstrated substantial growth, with average daily volume reaching 202,000 contracts in early 2025, representing a 73% increase year-over-year.

The exchange reports average open interest of 243,600 contracts, up 55% year-over-year, with more than 11,300 unique accounts trading its crypto products.

On centralized crypto exchanges, Solana derivatives show a 66% volume increase to $7.24 billion, covering a bullish bias with multiple long/short ratios above 2, despite some $12.29 million in 24-hour liquidations, data from Coinglass shows.

Solana is down 6.4% to $127, and remains under pressure following its January all-time high near $293.31, CoinGecko data shows.