Bernstein: Perpetual contract structures penetrate AI computing power market; CME and ICE-related futures expected to launch by year-end

Foresight News reports, according to The Block, that Bernstein pointed out in its latest research report that the perpetual contract structure originating from the crypto market has already entered the AI computing power market ahead of others. Architect AX, an exchange registered in Bermuda and not regulated by the CFTC, has launched GPU computing power perpetual contracts, where the contracts are anchored to spot prices through funding rates—this mechanism directly originates from the crypto market. Cash-settled computing power futures on CME and ICE are still awaiting CFTC review and are expected to launch at the end of 2026.

Additionally, the prediction market platform Kalshi, regulated by the CFTC, previously launched prediction contracts linked to GPU rental prices and will roll out pricing curves for B200, H200, and A100 chips on July 14. The B200 is priced at $5.41, with a historical peak at $7.39. Bernstein emphasized that unused GPU computing power cannot be stored, and hedging is the only way to manage price risk. However, current market liquidity is still dominated by speculative capital, and difficulties in constructing computing power benchmark indices are a major bottleneck for market development.