CME Group Halts Trading After Major Data Center Failure

CME Group temporarily suspended trading across several major asset classes after a critical systems failure disrupted operations at its data centers. According to a Reuters report, a cooling malfunction at a CyrusOne facility—responsible for powering CME’s technology infrastructure—forced the exchange operator to freeze activity in futures, options, commodities, and foreign exchange markets on its Globex platform.

The outage brought a sudden stop to trading in key benchmarks such as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures, as well as major currency pairs. Traders noted that the halt notice arrived just before 0300 GMT, leaving markets without updated pricing during an already thin post-Thanksgiving session in Asia. CME confirmed that its support teams were working urgently to restore systems and would provide pre-open details once available.

The disruption also affected EBS, a widely used electronic FX trading platform for high-volume pairs like EUR/USD and USD/JPY. Data from LSEG showed quotes had not refreshed since 0344 GMT, adding to uncertainty in a month marked by sharp market swings. Analysts said the outage amplified volatility and hindered participants looking to execute trades during a period of elevated interest.

The incident comes as CME Group continues strengthening its technology stack, including a recent partnership with Google Cloud to explore blockchain-based tokenization solutions using the Universal Ledger. The firm has also been expanding its crypto derivatives offerings. Just last week, CME announced plans for new spot-quoted futures contracts tied to XRP and Solana, expected to launch on December 15 pending regulatory approval. These contracts aim to provide institutions real-time price tracking and more flexible hedging tools with lower margin requirements, alongside planned options products.

Despite this temporary setback, CME Group reported record trading volumes across crypto and U.S. Treasury products. Its strong operational performance has been reflected in its stock price, which is up more than 20% year-to-date and has delivered nearly 90% returns over the past five years for long-term investors.