CME Group Inc. (CME): Business Model Canvas [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're digging into how CME Group Inc. actually makes its money, beyond just the ticker symbol, and honestly, what you'll find is a highly efficient, tech-driven utility sitting at the heart of global finance. With expected Fiscal Year 2025 revenue hitting approximately $\mathbf{\$6.4 \text{ billion}}$, the core model is simple yet powerful: they collect fees on every trade, with clearing and transaction fees making up $\mathbf{81\%}$ of that total. But the real story is how they are modernizing-migrating core systems to Google Cloud and fueling growth through market data-all while maintaining unmatched liquidity, processing $\mathbf{33.1 \text{ million}}$ contracts on average daily in November 2025. Look below for the full nine-block breakdown of this essential market infrastructure, mapping out exactly where the risk and opportunity lie.

CME Group Inc. (CME) - Canvas Business Model: Key Partnerships

You're looking at the alliances that power CME Group Inc.'s market reach and technological edge as of late 2025. These partnerships are critical for maintaining their position as the world's leading derivatives marketplace.

Google Cloud for platform migration and new ultra-low-latency data center

The long-term strategic partnership with Google Cloud, initiated with a $1 billion equity investment by Google in November 2021, continues to drive core infrastructure modernization. This collaboration is moving CME Group's technology infrastructure to the cloud, a phased approach that is now yielding concrete speed improvements.

Here's a look at the quantifiable impact of the Google Cloud alliance:

• Index creation speed improved from 9-12 months to 50 indices in 90 days.
• Consolidated 26 petabytes of data, covering 15+ years of market and risk information.
• Automated test cases using Gemini AI, reducing time by over 80%.
• Trained over 3,000 employees on new Google tools over the last three years.

The latest milestone involves piloting tokenization solutions using Google Cloud Universal Ledger (GCUL) as of March 2025, aiming for efficiencies in collateral and settlement for a move toward 24/7 trading. Furthermore, development is underway for a new private Google Cloud region in Illinois, which will serve as a disaster recovery facility, while initial customer testing began in the Dallas region.

Google Cloud Partnership Metrics (as of 2025)

Partnership Start Year	Google Equity Investment	Index Creation Time Reduction	Data Migrated
2021	$1 billion	From months to 90 days	26 petabytes

FanDuel for event-based contracts and access to their 13 million retail accounts

CME Group announced a groundbreaking alliance in August 2025 with FanDuel, America's premier online gaming company, to launch the FanDuel Predicts app in December 2025. This move directly connects CME Group's regulated market infrastructure with FanDuel's massive consumer base. FanDuel Group reports a presence across all 50 states with approximately 17 million customers.

The platform will offer event contracts on a wide array of benchmarks, which is a significant distribution expansion for CME Group. These offerings include:

• Sports event contracts.
• Financial benchmarks like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100.
• Commodity prices for gold and oil/gas.
• Key economic indicators such as GDP and CPI.

Plus500 Ltd. was appointed as the clearing partner to provide brokerage-execution and clearing services for the joint venture.

Robinhood and other retail brokers for futures trading access

In January 2025, CME Group began rolling out popular futures products directly onto the Robinhood mobile app, targeting the new generation of self-directed traders. Retail traders are noted as CME Group's fastest-growing client segment as of early 2025. The offering includes futures across five major asset classes:

• Four leading U.S. equity indices: S&P 500, Nasdaq-100, Russell 2000, and Dow Jones Industrial Average.
• Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin and Ether.
• Major FX currency pairs.
• Key metals: Gold, silver, and copper.
• Energy: Crude oil and natural gas.

As of late 2025, CME Group's market capitalization stood at $97.59B, trading with an average volume of 1.95M contracts.

S&P Dow Jones Indices for exclusive S&P futures trading rights

CME Group maintains a significant ownership stake in S&P Dow Jones Indices, holding 27.0% of the joint venture, which was formed by combining Dow Jones Indexes and S&P Indices. This structure is supported by a license agreement where CME Group pays S&P Indices a share of the profits from its equity product complex. CME Group maintains exclusive rights to trade and clear the E-mini and other S&P indexed futures contracts. For context, CME Group's total revenue in 2024 was reported at $6.13 billion.

CF Benchmarks to launch new Bitcoin Volatility Indices

CME Group and CF Benchmarks announced the launch of the CME CF Bitcoin Volatility Index - Real Time (BVX) and Settlement (BVXS) on December 2, 2025. These indices measure the implied volatility embedded in CME Group's regulated Bitcoin options on futures and Micro Bitcoin futures contracts. This development is supported by significant crypto market activity on CME Group's platform.

CME Group Cryptocurrency Metrics (2025 Data Points)

Bitcoin Options Notional Value (2025)	Q3 Crypto Futures & Options Volume	November 2025 Crypto ADV (Contracts)	CF Benchmarks Crypto Derivatives Coverage
Nearly $46 billion	Exceeded $900 billion (Notional)	424,000	99% of regulated market

The growth in this segment is clear: CME Group's overall cryptocurrency ADV in November 2025 reached 424,000 contracts, equivalent to $13.2 billion in notional value. Open interest in CME crypto futures and options reached $31.3 billion by the end of September 2025.

CME Group Inc. (CME) - Canvas Business Model: Key Activities

Operating the CME Globex electronic trading platform is central to CME Group Inc.'s function as the world's leading derivatives marketplace. The sheer scale of activity demonstrates this core function. For instance, in November 2025, the Average Daily Volume (ADV) reached 33.1 million contracts, which was the second-largest monthly ADV ever recorded. This follows the all-time record set in April 2025, when ADV hit 35.9 million contracts.

Global liquidity maintenance is evidenced by the consistent high volume across all venues. In the second quarter of 2025, the total quarterly ADV was a record 30.2 million contracts. International activity, reflecting global reach, hit a record 9.2 million contracts ADV in Q2 2025, up 18% year-over-year.

Here's a look at the November 2025 ADV breakdown by major asset class, showing where the activity is concentrated:

Asset Class	November 2025 ADV (Contracts)
Interest Rate	17.5 million
Equity Index	8.9 million
Energy	2.6 million
Agricultural	2.1 million
Metals	1.3 million
Foreign Exchange	746,000

Providing central counterparty clearing services via CME Clearing remains a critical risk management activity. For the third quarter of 2025, the revenue generated from clearing and transaction fees totaled $1.2 billion. The total average rate charged per contract for that quarter was $0.702. To support this, customer collateral balances for meeting performance bond requirements at the end of October 2025 were substantial, with $135.2 billion in cash collateral and $160.3 billion in non-cash collateral.

Developing new benchmark products like Solana and XRP futures is a key activity driving growth in the Cryptocurrency complex. The adoption has been swift since their respective launches in Spring 2025.

• Solana (SOL) and Micro SOL futures traded over 730K contracts, representing $34 billion in notional value, since the March 17 launch (as of October 2025).
• XRP and Micro XRP futures traded over 476K contracts, equating to more than $23.7 billion in notional value, since the May 19 launch (as of October 2025).
• The overall Cryptocurrency ADV in November 2025 was a record 424,000 contracts, representing $13.2 billion in notional value.
• For Q3 2025, the Crypto complex ADV reached 340,000 contracts per day, marking an increase of over 225% relative to the prior year.

The migration of core clearing applications to Google Cloud is a major, multi-year technology undertaking. CME Group and Google Cloud announced a new private Google Cloud Chicago region and co-location facility to host listed derivative markets. This effort is designed to support ultra-low latency trading and provide clients with specialized infrastructure-as-a-service options. A key milestone in this process is the planned launch of the Preview environment in 2026, allowing clients to begin testing in a production-like environment on Google Cloud. The overall build-out and migration is expected to occur over the next several years.

CME Group Inc. (CME) - Canvas Business Model: Key Resources

You're looking at the core assets that let CME Group Inc. run the global derivatives markets. These aren't just buildings or people; they are the digital plumbing and the intellectual property that keep trillions of dollars of risk managed every day. Honestly, the numbers here tell the real story of their essential nature.

CME Globex (global electronic trading platform)

The CME Globex platform is where the action happens, processing massive daily volumes across all asset classes. The platform's capacity and reliability are paramount, especially given the recent volatility.

Here's a look at the trading activity, which directly fuels the transaction revenue stream:

Metric	Value/Period	Context
Monthly Average Daily Volume (ADV)	33.1 million contracts (November 2025)	Second-highest monthly ADV ever
Record Monthly ADV	35.9 million contracts (April 2025)	All-time monthly record
Quarterly ADV	30.2 million contracts (Q2 2025)	Record-breaking quarter performance
Quarterly ADV	29.8 million contracts (Q1 2025)	Record quarterly volume at the time
Total Revenue	$1.5 billion (Q3 2025)	Quarterly revenue figure
Clearing and Transaction Fees Revenue	$1.2 billion (Q3 2025)	Revenue generated from trading and clearing activity
Average Rate Per Contract	$0.702 (Q3 2025)	Average fee earned per contract traded

CME Clearing (central counterparty clearing house)

CME Clearing acts as the central counterparty, standing between buyers and sellers to manage counterparty credit risk. Its operational strength is visible in the margin management capabilities.

• Soft US dollar cash minimum margin requirement implemented April 1, 2025, requiring clearing members to meet at least 30% of US dollar margin in cash.
• An additional fee of 10 basis points (annualized) is charged to members not meeting the 30% cash minimum.
• Single day record for mark to market cash movement on April 9, 2025: collecting and paying out $32 billion in margin.
• The previous mark to market record was $22 billion.

Global benchmark products (e.g., SOFR, WTI, Micro E-mini)

The exchange's ownership of global benchmarks is a massive intangible asset. These products are essential for risk transfer across various asset classes.

Specific product volume and reference data show their deep market penetration:

Benchmark Product/Category	Metric/Volume	Period/Context
Term SOFR Reference	More than $8 trillion in loans	Loans referencing the rate globally
SOFR options ADV	1.6 million contracts	November 2025, up 18% year-over-year
Micro E-mini S&P 500 futures ADV	1.6 million contracts	November 2025, up 80% year-over-year
Micro E-mini Nasdaq 100 futures ADV	2.2 million contracts	November 2025, up 72% year-over-year
Credit Futures (IG & HY) Open Interest	6,800 contracts (approx. $700 million notional)	As of September 4, 2025
Cryptocurrency ADV	Record 424,000 contracts (approx. $13.2 billion notional)	November 2025

Proprietary low-latency technology and cloud infrastructure

CME Group Inc. is actively modernizing its technology stack, which is a critical physical and intellectual resource. This includes a multi-year partnership with Google Cloud.

• The company is completing the migration of clearing applications into the cloud.
• They are building a new, industry-first specialized platform for their futures and options markets on the cloud.
• Market data products already operate in the cloud, offering clients more efficient access to data sets and analytics tools.

$2.6 billion in cash as of September 30, 2025

The balance sheet provides a clear picture of readily available capital. This liquidity supports operations, dividends, and strategic investments.

The reported cash position is:

• $2.6 billion in cash as of September 30, 2025.
• The more detailed figure for Cash and cash equivalents on the Consolidated Balance Sheets was $2,446.8 million as of September 30, 2025.
• Debt on the balance sheet was $3.4 billion as of that same date.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

CME Group Inc. (CME) - Canvas Business Model: Value Propositions

You're looking at the core reasons why market participants choose CME Group Inc. (CME) over alternatives. It boils down to scale, efficiency, and technology that keeps pace with evolving needs.

Unmatched liquidity with November 2025 ADV of 33.1 million contracts

The sheer volume flowing through CME Group Inc. markets provides deep, reliable execution. In November 2025, the Average Daily Volume (ADV) hit 33.1 million contracts, marking the second-highest monthly volume in the company's history. This liquidity is not concentrated in one area; it spans across all major asset classes.

Capital efficiency through margin savings of approximately $60 billion per day

For capital-constrained firms, the efficiency derived from cross-margining is a major draw. CME Group Inc. provides clients with daily margin savings estimated at approximately $60 billion across its six major derivatives asset classes. To be fair, in interest rates alone, the figure was cited earlier in 2025 as an average of $20 billion in daily margin savings.

Widest range of global benchmark products for comprehensive risk management

CME Group Inc. exchanges offer a global suite of benchmark products covering every major asset class, which allows for holistic risk management. The November 2025 ADV breakdown illustrates this breadth:

Asset Class	November 2025 ADV (Contracts)
Interest Rate	17.5 million
Equity Index	8.9 million
Energy	2.6 million
Agricultural	2.1 million
Metals	1.3 million
Foreign Exchange	746,000
Cryptocurrency	424,000

The growth in specific areas is notable, for example, Metals ADV increased by 52% year-over-year in November 2025.

Ultra-low-latency trading via new Google Cloud co-location facility

The ongoing, multi-year migration to a new private Google Cloud region and co-location facility in Aurora, Illinois, is designed to deliver next-generation technology. This new platform will offer derivatives traders cloud-based, ultra-low-latency networking and high-performance computing. Clients will have options for self-managed infrastructure in the co-location facility or Google Cloud's infrastructure-as-a-service offering, both promising equal network latency to the exchange. The Preview environment for clients to test on the new platform is scheduled to launch in 2026.

Accessible Micro products for the growing retail trader segment

CME Group Inc. has successfully lowered the barrier to entry for individual traders, leading to significant segment growth. The focus on smaller-sized products has clearly resonated, as evidenced by the numbers:

• The group added 83,000 new clients in Q1 2025, a 44% increase year-over-year.
• The total number of retail traders on the platform surpassed 500,000, up from about 150,000 five years prior.
• In Q2 2025, over 90,000 new retail participants traded for the first time, a 56% surge versus Q2 2024.
• Micro products ADV reached 4.1 million contracts in Q2 2025.
• Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures alone hit an ADV of a record 1.8 million contracts in 2025.
• Micro Gold futures achieved a monthly record of trading more than 6 million lots in April 2025.

This accessibility means more choice and more manageable risk for the individual investor. Finance: review the Q3 2025 retail client acquisition cost versus the lifetime value projection by end of January.

CME Group Inc. (CME) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Relationships

You're looking at how CME Group Inc. keeps its diverse client base engaged and trading, which is really about providing speed, efficiency, and relevant products. The foundation of this relationship is the technology that enables near-instantaneous transactions.

Automated, high-speed execution via the Globex platform is the non-negotiable baseline for all participants. The sheer scale of activity proves this platform is central to client risk management. For instance, CME Group reported a record quarterly Average Daily Volume (ADV) of 29.8 million contracts in Q1 2025. By the second quarter of 2025, this hit a record of 30.2 million contracts. Honestly, the platform handles massive flows, evidenced by the second-highest monthly ADV of 33.1 million contracts in November 2025, which was up 10% year-over-year.

For your largest institutional clients, dedicated relationship management is key, focusing on capital efficiency and integration. This is where the cross-margining programs deliver direct cost efficiencies that are hard to ignore. The Portfolio Margining program currently helps clients realize over $8B in daily margin savings. Specifically, the CME-FICC Cross-Margining for common clearing members generates over $1B in daily savings for its users. To put the value in perspective, CME Group delivers an average of $20 billion in average daily margin savings in interest rates alone. A September 2025 Coalition Greenwich study found that 94% of surveyed respondents believe in achieving margin savings across their USD interest rate swaps and futures portfolios.

CME Group Inc. is clearly focused on making its products accessible to a broader base, especially retail traders, through educational tools and simplified product design. The number of new retail traders at CME Group increased by a significant 57% year-over-year in Q2 2025. This is supported by product design like the Spot-Quoted Futures (SQFs) introduced on June 30, 2025, which are designed to be more intuitive for retail users by eliminating rollover complexities.

Continuous product innovation based on client demand is how CME Group Inc. maintains its relevance. They are actively expanding into new asset classes and contract types. For example, the cryptocurrency complex traded 340K daily contracts in Q3 2025, a 225% year-over-year increase. Credit futures, launched in June 2024, surpassed 450,000 contracts in trading volume as of September 4, 2025.

Here's a quick look at the scale of execution and product adoption as of late 2025:

Metric	Value/Amount	Period/Date
Record Quarterly Global ADV	29.8 million contracts	Q1 2025
Record Monthly Global ADV	35.9 million contracts	April 2025
Record International Quarterly ADV	9.2 million contracts	Q2 2025
Daily Margin Savings (Interest Rates)	Average of $20 billion	2025 context
Daily Margin Savings (CME-FICC Program)	Over $1 billion	As of late 2025
Options ADV	5.6 million contracts	First half of 2025
Record Market Data Revenue	$203 million	Q3 2025

The focus on providing tools that directly translate to efficiency and new opportunities is clear across the client spectrum. You can see this commitment in the growth of specific product lines:

• New retail trader growth: 57% year-over-year increase in Q2 2025.
• Credit futures trading volume: Surpassed 450,000 contracts since launch.
• Credit futures notional value: Over $700 million as of September 4, 2025.
• Cryptocurrency ADV: Reached 424,000 contracts in November 2025.
• New product launch: Options on Solana (SOL) and XRP Futures launched in October 2025.

Also, CME Group Inc. is actively extending these relationship benefits. They confirmed plans to expand their cross-margining arrangement with DTCC to provide increased margin savings to end users by December 2025. Finance: draft the Q4 2025 client engagement report by January 15th.

CME Group Inc. (CME) - Canvas Business Model: Channels

You're looking at how CME Group Inc. gets its value propositions out to the market as of late 2025. It's all about the pipes-the electronic venues and data streams that connect their products to the world's traders.

The core of the delivery mechanism remains the electronic trading platforms. For November 2025, the total average daily volume (ADV) across all CME Group products hit 33.1 million contracts, which was a 10% increase year-over-year. This volume flows through the primary electronic venue, CME Globex.

Here's a look at the scale across the key platforms:

Channel Platform	Metric Type	Latest Value (as of late 2025)	Reference Period
CME Globex (Total ADV)	Contracts	33.1 million	November 2025
CME Globex (Total ADV)	Contracts	30.2 million	Q2 2025
BrokerTec U.S. Repo	ADNV	$386 billion	November 2025
BrokerTec European Repo	ADNV	€304 billion	November 2025
BrokerTec CLOB	Single-Day ADNV Record	$1.05 trillion	Q1 2025
EBS/FX Data Service	Data Delivery Speed	250 milliseconds	Launch in 2025

The fixed-income trading channel, BrokerTec, shows significant notional value moving through its venues. For November 2025, BrokerTec U.S. Repo average daily notional value (ADNV) was up 17% to $386 billion. European Repo ADNV saw a 1% increase to €304 billion in the same month. To be fair, BrokerTec set an all-time single-day ADNV record of $1.05 trillion across its platforms back in Q1 2025.

For foreign exchange spot trading, the EBS platform is evolving its data delivery. CME Group is rolling out FX Tape+ this year, which will deliver reference prices every 250 milliseconds via a websocket API. This new service pulls data from CME's centrally cleared markets and real-time order books.

Direct data feed and API access is a major revenue channel, too. Market data revenue hit a record $203 million in Q3 2025. That was a 14% increase year-over-year for the quarterly revenue figure.

CME Group Inc. is actively expanding its reach to retail participants through third-party platforms. You should know the numbers here are growing fast. The firm now works with over 130 retail brokers globally.

This connectivity has driven the total number of retail traders on the platform to over 500,000, a big jump from about 150,000 five years ago. The first quarter of 2025 saw the addition of 83,000 new clients, marking a 44% increase compared to Q1 2024.

The distribution strategy includes key partnerships:

• Direct API access for institutional subscribers.
• Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) and introducing brokers.
• Established retail brokers expanding derivatives coverage.
• Partnership with Robinhood to offer futures and options to its US customers early this year.
• A partnership with FanDuel targeting 13 million retail accounts.

So, the channels are a mix of high-speed electronic venues and strategic third-party distribution agreements. Finance: draft the Q4 2025 channel utilization report by January 15th.

CME Group Inc. (CME) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Segments

You're looking at the core groups that drive the CME Group Inc. engine, especially as trading activity hit records through the first three quarters of 2025. Honestly, the client base is diversifying faster than ever before, but the heavy hitters still move the bulk of the volume.

Retail Traders (fastest-growing segment, 90,000+ new in Q2 2025)

This group is definitely the story of 2025. CME Group Inc. has made a concerted effort to bring in individual traders, and it's paying off in contract volume. In the second quarter of 2025, the exchange saw over 90,000 new retail traders participate for the first time, which was a year-over-year increase of either 56% or 57% depending on the specific report you check. This influx directly fueled the record Micros ADV (Average Daily Volume) of 4.1 million contracts for that quarter. To put that growth in perspective, CME Group Inc. reported working with over 130 retail brokers globally as of mid-2025. The total number of retail traders on the platform has climbed to over 500,000 from about 150,000 just five years prior. The first quarter of 2025 alone saw the addition of 83,000 new clients, marking a 44% increase over the first quarter of 2024.

Here's a quick look at the retail-driven product success:

• Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures contributed 1.7 million of the 4.1 million Q2 2025 Micros ADV.
• Year-to-date 2025 (through November), overall cryptocurrency average daily volume (ADV) reached 270,900 contracts, up 132% year-over-year.
• Crypto futures and options suite hit an all-time daily volume record of 794,903 contracts on November 21, 2025.

Financial Institutions (Banks, Hedge Funds, Asset Managers)

These are the traditional volume drivers, managing massive balance sheets and complex hedging strategies across all asset classes. Their activity is best seen through the performance of the largest product categories. For example, Interest Rate futures, a core area for these institutions, dominated the volume in Q2 2025, reaching an ADV of 15.5 million contracts. Within that, SOFR futures hit a quarterly record ADV of 4.6 million contracts in Q2 2025, showing intense hedging activity related to U.S. monetary policy shifts.

Commercial Hedgers (Energy, Agriculture producers)

Producers and commercial participants rely on CME Group Inc. to manage physical market risk, which shows up clearly in the commodity complex volumes. In the first quarter of 2025, international volume for Energy products grew by 29% year-over-year, and Agricultural products also saw a 29% increase. This signals that producers in those sectors were actively using the listed futures to lock in prices amid supply chain and climatic uncertainty.

Professional Trading Firms (HFT, Proprietary Traders)

While CME Group Inc. doesn't typically break out volume specifically for High-Frequency Trading (HFT) or proprietary trading desks, their presence is embedded in the overall record volumes and the efficiency of the markets. The overall global Average Daily Volume (ADV) in Q2 2025 was a record 30.2 million contracts, up 16% year-over-year. The record Market Data revenue of $203 million in Q3 2025 also suggests heavy usage by data-intensive professional firms building new products and indices.

Institutional Investors (Pension Funds, Endowments)

This segment uses the exchange for broad exposure management and asset allocation, often through equity index and interest rate products. The Equity Index segment showed significant growth internationally in Q2 2025, with ADV up 38% year-over-year. Furthermore, the overall Q3 2025 quarter-end open interest reached 126 million contracts, which was a five-year September high, reflecting significant long-term positioning by large asset holders.

You can see how the overall financial performance reflects the activity across these segments:

Metric (Period)	Value	Year-over-Year Change
Total Revenue (Q2 2025)	$1.7 billion	10% increase
Clearing & Transaction Fees (Q2 2025)	$1.4 billion	11% increase
Market Data Revenue (Q3 2025)	$203 million	14% increase
Global ADV (Q2 2025)	30.2 million contracts	16% increase
International ADV (Q2 2025)	9.2 million contracts	18% increase

The average rate per contract was $0.690 in Q2 2025 and increased slightly to $0.702 in Q3 2025, showing a slight increase in the mix or pricing power across the board. Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

CME Group Inc. (CME) - Canvas Business Model: Cost Structure

You're looking at the expenses that drive the engine of CME Group Inc., the world's largest derivatives marketplace. Understanding this cost base is key to seeing where capital is being deployed to maintain that market position.

Compensation and Benefits

Compensation and benefits is your most significant expense line, reflecting the high-value talent needed to run global exchanges and clearing houses. For the full year 2024, this expense totaled $629.5 million. This figure includes wages, bonuses, stock-based compensation, benefits, and employer taxes, and it fluctuates based on headcount and labor market conditions. For context, the third quarter of 2024 alone saw this expense hit $218.8 million.

The employee base figure you mentioned, 3,760 employees, is a 2024 reference point. Here's how the compensation expense breaks down across a recent quarter:

Expense Component (Q3 2024)	Amount (in millions)
Compensation and benefits	$218.8
Technology	$66.6

The composition of the workforce definitely impacts this number, so any significant hiring or changes in stock-based compensation plans can move this line item substantially.

Adjusted Operating Expenses (Ex-License Fees)

CME Group Inc. has provided clear guidance for the full fiscal year 2025 regarding core operating costs. Management expects total adjusted operating expenses, specifically excluding license fees, to be approximately $1.625 billion for FY2025. This figure was actually reduced by $10 million from prior guidance during the third quarter of 2025, showing a focus on cost discipline.

For the third quarter of 2025, the adjusted operating expenses, excluding license fees, were reported at $405 million. This discipline is important; it's the day-to-day cost of running the business before accounting for specific third-party agreements.

Technology and Data Center Investment

Technology is a massive, ongoing cost, essential for maintaining the speed and reliability that customers demand. For the full year 2024, technology expenses were $255.8 million. This covers the infrastructure supporting trading platforms like CME Globex and the critical data centers, such as the primary hub in Aurora, Illinois, which is leased from CyrusOne.

The push toward cloud migration and modernization is a major capital outlay. While specific cloud migration investment figures aren't explicitly broken out in the latest guidance, the overall technology spend reflects these necessary upgrades. You've definitely seen the impact of tech reliance when a cooling issue at a vendor's data center can halt global markets, as happened in late 2025.

Key technology-related costs from 2024 include:

• Technology expense for the full year 2024: $255.8 million.
• Technology expense for Q3 2024: $66.6 million.
• Capital expenditures for Q2 2025 were approximately $19 million.

Index and Intellectual Property License Fees

These fees represent payments for the rights to use proprietary data, benchmarks, and indexes that underpin many of the products traded. While the exact annual dollar amount for all license fees is excluded from the $1.625 billion adjusted operating expense guidance, specific license renewals and agreements are material costs.

For example, CME Group Inc. announced an extension of the FTSE Russell Index derivatives license through 2037. The cost structure includes fees for Derived Data License Agreements (DDLA) for index creation and distribution. For certain crypto indices, like the CME CF Crypto Indices, there was no charge until further notice as of early 2025, but this is subject to change.

Regulatory Compliance and Clearing House Operational Costs

The costs associated with operating the clearing house, CME Clearing, are substantial, covering risk mitigation, settlement, and regulatory adherence. While not itemized as a single 'Regulatory Compliance' bucket, these costs are embedded within operating expenses, technology, and professional fees.

The clearing business is central to CME Group Inc.'s value proposition, as it provides clearing, settling, and guaranteeing futures, options, and cleared swaps. In 2024, 85% of contract volume came from trades by members, meaning the operational efficiency of the clearing house directly impacts member fee structures and the exchange's cost-to-serve.

Consider the scale of the clearing operation:

• The clearing house provides services for a broad range of exchange-traded contracts and OTC derivatives.
• The company is one of the world's leading central counterparty providers.
• The cost of maintaining this infrastructure is factored into the overall expense base, which management is actively trying to control.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

CME Group Inc. (CME) - Canvas Business Model: Revenue Streams

You're looking at the core engine that keeps CME Group Inc. running, which is all about the fees they charge for market access and services. Honestly, it's a high-margin business built on volume and data access.

The projected revenue streams for the full fiscal year 2025 show a clear dominance by transaction-based income. We expect the Clearing and Transaction Fees to hit approximately $5.2 billion, which is projected to account for 81% of the total expected revenue for the year.

To give you a concrete look at the recent run rate, Q3 2025 saw Clearing and Transaction Fees total $1.227.9 million, or about $1.23 billion. That quarter's performance was supported by an Average Rate Per Contract of $0.702.

Here's a breakdown of the expected FY2025 revenue components:

Revenue Stream	Expected FY2025 Amount	Approximate Percentage of Total
Clearing and Transaction Fees	$5.2 billion	81%
Market Data Revenue	$753 million	~12%
Rental, Processing & Other	$453 million	~7%

The Market Data Revenue stream is also a significant, high-margin contributor. For FY2025, the expectation is $753 million. This is backed up by a record Q3 2025 performance, where Market Data Revenue reached $203 million, marking the first time it topped $200 million in a quarter.

The remaining segment, Rental, Processing & Other revenue, is estimated at $453 million for the full year. This category captures everything from technology services to other administrative fees.

You can see how the key drivers stack up:

• Average Rate Per Contract (Q3 2025): $0.702
• Q3 2025 Clearing and Transaction Fees: $1.2 billion
• Q3 2025 Market Data Revenue: $203 million
• Total Revenue (TTM ending Sep 30, 2025): $6.397B

Overall, the expected Total FY2025 Revenue is pegged at approximately $6.4 billion. This aligns closely with the trailing twelve months revenue ending September 30, 2025, which was reported at $6.397B. The business model relies heavily on maintaining high trading volumes to feed the primary transaction fee engine, so you watch ADV (Average Daily Volume) closely.

The expected revenue mix for the full year is:

• Clearing and Transaction Fees: $5.2 billion
• Market Data Revenue: $753 million
• Rental, Processing & Other: $453 million
• Total FY2025 Revenue (Expected): Approximately $6.4 billion

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.