CME Group operations halted due to a data center failure

Source: CritpoTendencia Original Title: Operations at CME Group Halted Due to Data Center Failure Original Link: Options and futures trading operations at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, or CME Group, were suspended this Friday. The cause was a failure at a data center on which the group’s electronic trading platform, Globex, depends. This impacts areas such as the Forex market, equities, bonds, cryptocurrencies, and commodities.

According to reports from specialized media, this interruption is similar to the one in 2019, which lasted for hours following a technical failure. Now, a new disruption is causing frustration among traders faced with the prospect of a lost trading day.

This exchange is one of the most important in the world in the field of derivatives. In fact, millions of contracts tracking the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq 100 are traded every week. These are traded around the clock on the aforementioned exchange.

According to a CME Group spokesperson, the suspension of operations is related to cooling problems at CyrusOne data centers, a key provider for this exchange. In the statements, the representative did not provide an estimated timeframe for the resumption of activities.

Among the affected areas is also the trading of U.S. Treasury bond futures. It is worth mentioning that bonds from other markets, such as the European market, were not affected, as these are traded on different platforms.

The CME Group Suspension Causes Confusion Among Traders

According to consulted experts, this is an uncomfortable situation for traders with open positions. However, they note that the confusion of the moment surely has not stopped others, who are moving their capital to alternative platforms. The fact is that a huge amount of liquidity is evaporating as a result of the failure.

“We have lost one of the largest sources of market liquidity. This increases the risk of exacerbated movements in the event of a major event,” warns Nick Twidale of AT Global Markets. One of the factors adding pressure is that most U.S. markets were closed on Thursday due to Thanksgiving Day.

This further increases traders’ desperation amid a thirst for trading activity. From an optimistic point of view, no major economic announcements are expected in the U.S. on Friday. Similarly, there will be no statements from Federal Reserve members as a result of the usual information blackout preceding monetary policy meetings.

The temporary halt of CME Group operations particularly affects the world of cryptocurrencies. It is worth noting that numerous contracts based on Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and other major tokens are opened daily on that platform.

As is well known, the crypto world has much lower liquidity compared to other markets. This makes the CME halt a much more delicate issue for virtual currencies.