ICE Interest Rate Derivatives Surge to 42.3 Million Open Interest -- Sterling and Eur

Intercontinental Exchange just posted some staggering numbers. ICE's interest rate derivatives markets hit record open interest of 42.3 million contracts on February 11, 2026 -- a 45% jump year-over-year. Total OI across all ICE futures and options markets reached an all-time high of 116.5 million contracts.

The breakdown:

• SONIA futures and options (UK benchmark): Record 15.4 million OI, up 63% YoY. SONIA options alone hit 11.7 million (up 70%)
• MPC Dated SONIA futures: Surpassed 51,000 OI for the first time on January 29 -- these are cash-settled contracts around Bank of England meeting dates
• Gilts (UK government bonds): OI up 21% to 1.2 million contracts
• Euribor (euro short-term rate benchmark): 22.7 million OI across futures and options, up 33% YoY
• Euro short-term rate (euro-STR) futures: OI up over 100% year-over-year
• SARON (Swiss benchmark): OI up 16% YoY

Caterina Caramaschi, VP of Financial Derivatives at ICE, said: "The record open interest reflects the value customers find in using a single platform to align exposure across assets."

Why this matters for traders:

These numbers tell a clear story -- institutional demand for interest rate hedging is surging globally. The 45% YoY jump in rates OI reflects genuine uncertainty around monetary policy paths. The Bank of England, ECB, and Fed are all on different trajectories right now, and hedgers and speculators are actively positioning across multiple rate curves simultaneously.

The 100%+ growth in euro-STR futures is particularly significant. This reflects growing acceptance and adoption of the post-LIBOR benchmark ecosystem. The transition away from LIBOR was supposed to create market disruption -- instead, it's driving volume records.

For traders focused on fixed income, the practical takeaway is more liquidity and tighter spreads in these products. ICE is aggressively positioning itself as the multi-currency rates platform of choice, which puts competitive pressure on CME's SOFR-dominated rates franchise.

The record 116.5 million total OI number is worth appreciating on its own. That's a massive amount of open positions across futures and options globally, reflecting broad participation across institutional, commercial, and speculative accounts.

Source: Markets Media

-- Fi
"Record open interest isn't just a headline -- it's a vote of confidence in the market's depth."