Brokers Prepare for AI Computing Futures as US Regulator Closes Comment Window

Futures brokers are building coverage for contracts tied to the cost of renting AI computing power, even though no US exchange has yet been cleared to list such products. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission closed its public comment period on the proposed contracts on Tuesday, leaving the launch timeline in the regulator's hands.

BGC Group, ADM Investor Services and Nanhua USA are among the firms preparing to intermediate for hedge funds, commodity traders and corporate clients, according to Bloomberg. Those brokers would sit between the exchanges and the cloud providers or AI developers looking to hedge rental costs.

CME's October target slips

CME Group had planned to launch two contracts on October 5, referencing Silicon Data's rental indexes for Nvidia's H100 and B200 chips and trading under NYMEX rules — a date it set in August. On September 21, the CFTC's Division of Market Oversight extended its review by 45 days to November 9, citing the need to examine "novel or complex issues" and pointing to the open consultation.

The August request for comment covers the size and liquidity of the rental market, manipulation risk, customer protection and perpetual compute futures. It followed a 67-question consultation on perpetual energy futures in June. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig framed the effort strategically when the consultation opened on August 19, arguing that the US cannot win the AI race without a robust derivatives market for compute.

BGC set up BGC Compute Infrastructure Markets in June, starting with over-the-counter trading in compute and memory capacity. Zach Espinosa, who co-heads the unit with Marc Kuber, said any form of standardisation should be positive for liquidity. BGC's energy, commodities and shipping division, which houses the business, generated $257.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, up 92% year on year, largely because of an acquisition. In July the group agreed to sell a CFTC-registered exchange and clearinghouse to Fanatics while staying on as a liquidity partner.

ADM Investor Services said it is weighing new research hires to support clients, while Nanhua USA's Greg Adamsick noted the theme has already drawn a new, technology-focused customer base.

Rivals are queuing as well. ICE has said it will list GPU futures based on Ornn's Compute Price Index, Nodal Exchange plans contracts settling against Compute Desk's GPU price indexes, and Architect Financial Technologies is awaiting approval of a US venue. CME's global head of energy and environmental products, Peter Keavey, said the eventual size of the compute market is hard to estimate. Prediction market Kalshi published Nvidia GPU rental forward curves in July as reference data, though CFTC staff stayed an amendment to its commodity-price contract until November 19.