The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the largest market for financial derivatives globally, faced a trading halt of about 10 hours from Thursday to Friday, which led to significant dissatisfaction from traders before the systems were restored.
According to a CME announcement, the trading pause was attributed to a “cooling issue” at their data center located in Illinois. Trading resumed for all markets at 1:30 PM UTC on Friday, as confirmed in a CME update.
Traders expressed their anger over the disruption, which left some locked in positions while preventing others from executing new trades and stalling price discovery. Stock trader Timothy Bozman criticized the CME for potential market manipulation and questioned, “how could such a simple issue shut down the entire futures platform?”
“Very convenient that this happens in Asia on Thanksgiving Day, when there’s already low volume. Sounds like you’re trying to manipulate the markets quickly in a certain direction,” said another user on X, pointing out the timing.
The frustration continued among traders even after the issue was resolved, as many indicated that the halt occurred just before silver futures contracts reached a historic peak of $54, raising further doubts.
Related: What Bitcoin CME gaps are and how they influence price movements
Bitcoin futures contracts continue to climb after market halt
The CME does not report regular trading data for Thanksgiving, which happened on Thursday this year, but Bitcoin futures closed at $90,355 on Wednesday and opened at $90,940 on Friday, according to TradingView data.
On Friday, Bitcoin futures continued to rise, surpassing $93,000 as BTC rebounded from a local low of $80,522.
Bitcoin futures rebound from the recent low
Source: TradingView
Analysts believe BTC might face resistance at $95,000, but if it can secure $95,000 as a support level, a return to the $100,000 range is plausible. The recent decline to just over $80,000 was noted as the market’s lowest point, with investor and analyst Arthur Hayes commenting that easing liquidity conditions could drive BTC to higher values in 2026, while cautioning that another short-term decline may also happen.
