Leading STIR contracts 2026, by volume

Leading short-term interest rate (STIR) contracts in 2026, by volume

The most traded short-term interest rate contract in 2026 is the Three-Month SOFR future, traded on CME, with about 900 million contracts a year. It is the giant of the STIR market, dwarfing every other contract by a wide margin. Short-term interest rate futures are among the most heavily traded financial instruments in the world, the workhorses through which banks, hedge funds and asset managers hedge and speculate on the path of central bank policy, and their volumes offer a revealing window into where the action is in global rate markets. A short-term interest rate future is, at its heart, a bet on where a benchmark rate such as SOFR or Euribor will be at some point in the future, and the vast volumes traded reflect how central these instruments have become to the management of interest-rate risk worldwide. The rankings also tell the story of one of the largest and least visible reforms in modern finance, the global replacement of the scandal-tainted LIBOR benchmark with transaction-based risk-free rates, a change that has quietly reshaped which contracts traders reach for every day.

One-Month SOFR, Euribor and SONIA futures follow, well behind. These contracts let traders hedge and bet on central bank rates, a use our short-term interest rates worldwide and federal funds rate coverage explores.

The rise of SOFR, the death of Eurodollar: SOFR futures climbed from almost nothing in 2018 to about 900 million contracts by 2026, replacing the Eurodollar future, which was discontinued in 2023, while Euribor and SONIA held steadier.

The market has been transformed by the shift from LIBOR to new risk-free rates, with SOFR replacing the old Eurodollar contract, a change tied to the themes in our ten-year yields by country and central banks overviews.

A note on the data. The figures show leading STIR futures contracts in 2026, ranked by annual trading volume in millions of contracts, based on exchange data. Volumes are approximate industry estimates, and one contract is a single traded futures lot. The figures count futures contracts only and exclude options on those futures, which add substantial further volume, particularly for the SOFR complex, where the options market is itself among the largest in the world. All the volume figures are annual totals for 2026 or the most recent full year available, drawn from exchange data, and because reporting conventions differ slightly between venues, they are best treated as close approximations rather than exact counts.

The Leading STIR Contracts

The table lists the leading STIR futures contracts by annual trading volume in 2026. It shows the Three-Month SOFR future far ahead, followed by One-Month SOFR, Euribor and a group of smaller contracts. Reading down the table shows the extraordinary dominance of the dollar SOFR contracts, which together account for well over half of all STIR trading, before a steep drop to the euro, pound and other currency contracts that fill out the ranking. Because the figures blend data from several exchanges and are rounded to convey the broad picture, they should be read as approximate, but the overall hierarchy, with SOFR dominant and a long tail of smaller contracts, is well established and beyond dispute.

Which STIR Contracts Trade the Most?

The Three-Month SOFR future dominates STIR trading, with about 900 million contracts a year, more than twice the next contract. One-Month SOFR follows on about 375 million, then Euribor on 295 million and Fed Funds on 130 million. The sheer scale of the Three-Month SOFR future, trading close to a billion contracts a year, makes it one of the largest financial contracts of any kind, a status it inherited directly from the Eurodollar future it replaced as the linchpin of dollar interest-rate trading. With about 900 million contracts traded a year, the Three-Month SOFR future alone accounts for nearly half of all STIR volume, a level of dominance by a single contract that is rare even in the highly concentrated world of futures trading. This towering dominance means that the health of the entire dollar rate-hedging complex effectively rests on a single contract, giving the Three-Month SOFR future a systemic importance that stretches far beyond its own trading floor.

The dominance of SOFR reflects its role as the main US dollar benchmark, used by banks and investors to hedge interest-rate risk across the world largest bond market, a scale our leading investment banks coverage frames.

SOFR dominates: the Three-Month SOFR future trades about 900 million contracts a year, more than twice One-Month SOFR at 375 million, with Euribor, Fed Funds and SONIA well behind.

Below the leaders, a group of smaller contracts, including SONIA, the euro short-term rate, CORRA and SARON, serve the pound, euro, Canadian dollar and Swiss franc markets, each dominant in its own currency but far smaller than SOFR. Each of the smaller contracts plays the same role in its own currency that SOFR plays for the dollar, serving as the primary tool for hedging short-term rate risk, but the sheer size of the dollar market means that even the largest of them is a fraction of the SOFR giant. Taken together, the ranking paints a picture of a market overwhelmingly centred on the dollar, with a scattering of important but far smaller contracts serving the euro, pound and other currencies, each essential to its home market yet dwarfed by the SOFR giant.

Which Currencies Dominate STIR Trading?

US dollar contracts dominate STIR trading, making up about 74 percent of volume, led by SOFR and Fed Funds futures. Euro contracts, mainly Euribor, account for about 18 percent, and pound contracts, mainly SONIA, about 7 percent. The overwhelming dominance of dollar contracts in STIR trading mirrors the dollar central role in the wider financial system, since the depth of the US Treasury and repo markets makes dollar rate contracts the most liquid and widely used hedging tools in the world. At about 74 percent of all volume, dollar STIR contracts trade roughly four times as much as euro contracts and more than ten times as much as pound contracts, a gap that reflects the unmatched depth of dollar money markets. The concentration of volume in dollar contracts also reflects the global nature of dollar borrowing, since firms and governments around the world raise funds in dollars and must hedge the resulting exposure through instruments like SOFR futures.

The dominance of the dollar reflects the size and depth of the US money and bond markets, and the central role of the Federal Reserve, a dominance our debt deals by currency coverage frames.

The dollar rules: US dollar contracts make up about 74 percent of STIR volume, led by SOFR and Fed Funds, with euro contracts about 18 percent and pound contracts about 7 percent.

The euro and pound contracts, though far smaller, are the dominant STIR products in their own markets, while the Canadian dollar, Swiss franc and yen contracts remain niche, reflecting the smaller size of those money markets. The niche status of the Canadian, Swiss and Japanese contracts reflects not any lack of importance in their home markets but simply the smaller scale of those economies and money markets relative to the vast pools of dollar and euro interest-rate risk.

Where Are STIR Contracts Traded?

Two exchanges dominate STIR trading. CME Group handles about 1.43 billion contracts a year, mainly SOFR and Fed Funds, while ICE handles about 455 million, mainly Euribor and SONIA. A handful of smaller exchanges trade the rest. The concentration of STIR trading on just two exchanges, CME and ICE, reflects the powerful network effects of derivatives markets, where liquidity attracts more liquidity, making it extraordinarily difficult for new venues to break into the business. CME roughly 1.4 billion STIR contracts a year is more than three times the volume handled by ICE, a dominance built on its ownership of the giant SOFR and Fed Funds contracts that sit at the heart of dollar rate trading.

The concentration on CME and ICE reflects the deep liquidity and clearing they offer, which draws traders to a small number of venues, a concentration our global financial markets coverage frames.

CME and ICE: CME Group trades about 1.43 billion STIR contracts a year, mainly SOFR and Fed Funds, while ICE trades about 455 million, mainly Euribor and SONIA.

CME leads because it is home to the dominant SOFR and Fed Funds contracts, while ICE leads in euro and pound products, with Montreal hosting the Canadian CORRA future and other exchanges trading niche currency contracts. The division of the market, with CME dominant in dollars and ICE in euros and pounds, reflects the historical development of these contracts and the deep pools of liquidity each exchange has built up in its core products over many years.

The Rise of SOFR Futures

SOFR futures have risen from almost nothing in 2018 to about 900 million contracts a year in 2026. The contract was launched in 2018 to replace the Eurodollar future, and its volume overtook Eurodollar before that contract was discontinued in 2023. The rise of SOFR futures from a standing start in 2018 to market dominance within a few years stands as one of the most successful launches of a new financial contract in modern history, a transformation driven by regulatory necessity rather than the usual market forces. SOFR volume climbed from a token 5 million contracts in 2018 to around 300 million by 2021 and about 900 million by 2026, a nearly two-hundred-fold increase that tracks the forced migration of traders away from the doomed Eurodollar contract.

The rise of SOFR is one of the fastest adoptions of a new financial contract on record, driven by the global shift away from LIBOR to transaction-based risk-free rates, a transition our financial markets in the US coverage frames.

From nothing to dominance: Three-Month SOFR volume rose from about 5 million contracts in 2018 to 300 million by 2021 and about 900 million by 2026.

The smooth handover from Eurodollar to SOFR, with volume transferring almost seamlessly, is widely seen as a success for the market reform effort, avoiding the disruption that many had feared from the end of LIBOR. The success of the SOFR transition offered a template for other currencies, and the smooth winding down of the Eurodollar contract, once one of the most traded futures in the world, marked the quiet end of an era in interest-rate trading. Looking ahead, the SOFR complex looks set to remain the anchor of dollar rate trading for the foreseeable future, its dominance secured by the deep liquidity it inherited from Eurodollar and has since built upon.

How Volumes Changed Since 2022

Volumes have grown across most STIR contracts since 2022. Three-Month SOFR rose from about 550 million to 900 million contracts, One-Month SOFR from 180 to 375 million, and SONIA from 90 to 112 million, as trading in the new benchmarks matured. The broad-based growth in STIR volumes since 2022 reflects both the maturing of the new risk-free rate contracts and a period of unusual turbulence in interest rates, which drove heavy demand for the hedging tools that STIR futures provide. The near-doubling of One-Month SOFR volume since 2022, alongside the strong growth in the three-month contract, shows how quickly the SOFR complex has deepened, offering traders an ever finer set of tools for expressing views on the path of dollar rates.

The growth reflects both the completion of the shift from LIBOR and rising demand to hedge interest-rate risk during a volatile period for central bank policy, a volatility our money market fund coverage frames.

Broad growth: since 2022 Three-Month SOFR volume rose from 550 to 900 million contracts, One-Month SOFR from 180 to 375 million, and SONIA from 90 to 112 million.

Euribor volume has been more stable, since it never went through a full replacement, while the SOFR contracts saw the fastest growth as they absorbed the trading that once flowed through the Eurodollar future. The contrast between the explosive growth of the SOFR contracts and the steadier path of Euribor highlights how the disruption of the LIBOR transition varied by currency, with the dollar market undergoing the most dramatic change of all.

Which Contracts Are Growing Fastest?

The fastest-growing STIR contracts are the newer ones. Trading in yen TONA futures rose about 50 percent from 2024 to 2026, the euro short-term rate about 40 percent, and Canadian CORRA about 30 percent, from small bases, while Fed Funds volume slipped. The rapid percentage growth of the smaller, newer contracts points to the gradual globalisation of the risk-free rate reform, as each currency area builds out its own suite of contracts to replace the LIBOR-based products of the past. The 50 percent jump in yen TONA volume and the 40 percent rise in euro short-term rate futures, though from small bases, signal the steady spread of the risk-free rate model into every major currency, a process still very much under way.

The rapid growth of the newer contracts reflects the ongoing global adoption of risk-free rate benchmarks beyond the dollar, as each currency builds out its own market, a shift our development of reserves worldwide coverage frames.

Newer contracts grow fastest: from 2024 to 2026 yen TONA volume rose about 50 percent, the euro short-term rate about 40 percent, and CORRA about 30 percent, while Fed Funds slipped.

The slight fall in Fed Funds volume reflects a quieter period for bets on the exact timing of Federal Reserve moves, even as the much larger SOFR contracts continued to grow on strong underlying demand for interest-rate hedging. The divergence between the fast-growing newer contracts and the slower or declining older ones illustrates a market still settling into its new post-LIBOR shape, with the balance of trading gradually broadening beyond the dominant dollar products. Whether the newer currency contracts can sustain their rapid growth will depend on the continued development of their home money markets, but the direction of travel, toward a fuller suite of risk-free rate contracts in every major currency, is clear.

How Concentrated Is STIR Trading?

STIR trading is highly concentrated. The single largest contract, Three-Month SOFR, accounts for about 47 percent of all volume, the top three for about 82 percent, and the top five for about 95 percent, leaving little for the rest. The extreme concentration of STIR trading in a handful of contracts is a striking feature of the market, and it illustrates a fundamental truth about derivatives, that traders overwhelmingly prefer the deepest and most liquid contracts, reinforcing their dominance over time. That the top five contracts account for about 95 percent of all STIR volume, leaving barely a twentieth for everything else, is one of the starkest illustrations of concentration to be found anywhere in global financial markets. For traders, this concentration is a double-edged feature, delivering the deep liquidity and tight spreads that make the leading contracts cheap to trade, while leaving the smaller contracts thinner and more costly to move in and out of.

The concentration reflects the tendency of trading to gather in the most liquid contracts, since traders prefer the tightest spreads and deepest markets, a concentration our global stock markets by country coverage frames.

Highly concentrated: the top contract holds about 47 percent of STIR volume, the top three about 82 percent, and the top five about 95 percent of all trading.

The dominance of a few contracts means that liquidity begets liquidity, with the largest contracts becoming ever more entrenched, making it hard for new or smaller contracts to build meaningful volume against them. This self-reinforcing concentration poses a real challenge for exchanges hoping to launch competing contracts, since without liquidity a new contract struggles to attract traders, yet without traders it cannot build the liquidity it needs to compete.

The SOFR Share of the Market

SOFR futures now account for a majority of all STIR volume. Their share of the market rose from almost nothing in 2018 to about 64 percent by 2026, as total STIR volume held steady near 1.4 billion contracts a year and SOFR absorbed the Eurodollar trade. The rise of SOFR to command a majority of all STIR trading captures the completeness of the transition away from LIBOR, a shift that has quietly reshaped the plumbing of the global financial system without most people outside the markets ever noticing. The SOFR share of STIR trading rose from essentially zero in 2018 to about 42 percent by 2022 and roughly 64 percent by 2026, a trajectory that mirrors the steady death of the Eurodollar contract it was designed to replace.

The rising SOFR share, even as total volume stayed broadly flat, shows how completely SOFR has replaced the old Eurodollar contract at the centre of dollar rate trading, a shift our biggest companies by market value coverage frames.

SOFR takes the lead: as total STIR volume held near 1.4 billion contracts a year, the SOFR share rose from almost nothing in 2018 to about 64 percent by 2026.

With the transition now complete, SOFR share is likely to stabilise, since the Eurodollar contract that it replaced has been fully wound down, and future growth will depend on the overall demand for interest-rate hedging. The stabilisation of the SOFR share now that the transition is complete marks the beginning of a new, steadier phase for the market, in which growth will depend less on the mechanics of benchmark reform and more on the underlying demand for hedging.

Open Interest by Contract

Open interest, the number of contracts outstanding, tells a similar story. Three-Month SOFR leads with about 12 million contracts open, followed by Euribor on about 5 million and One-Month SOFR on about 3 million, reflecting the depth of these markets. Open interest is in many ways a more telling measure than volume, since it reveals how much risk is actually being carried in a contract over time, as opposed to the churn of day-to-day trading, and here too SOFR and Euribor stand clearly ahead. With about 12 million contracts of open interest, the Three-Month SOFR future carries more outstanding risk than any other STIR contract, more than twice the euro Euribor future in second place, underlining its central role in the global rate market.

Open interest measures how much risk is being carried in a contract, and the high figures for SOFR and Euribor show they are the main tools for managing dollar and euro rate risk, a role our euro to dollar exchange rate coverage frames.

SOFR leads again: Three-Month SOFR has about 12 million contracts of open interest, ahead of Euribor at 5 million and One-Month SOFR at 3 million.

The gap between trading volume and open interest varies by contract, with heavily day-traded contracts showing high volume relative to open interest, while contracts used more for long-term hedging carry more open interest per unit of volume. Understanding the interplay between volume and open interest is essential for making sense of these markets, since a contract can have enormous daily turnover yet modest open interest, or the reverse, depending on how it is used by the traders who dominate it.

STIR Contracts in Numbers

A few numbers capture the picture. The Three-Month SOFR future is the most traded STIR contract at about 900 million a year, US dollar contracts make up about 74 percent of volume, and the top five contracts account for about 95 percent of all trading. These figures together make STIR futures one of the clearest barometers of activity in global rate markets, mapping the overwhelming dominance of the dollar, the concentration of trading in a few giant contracts, and the sweeping transformation wrought by the end of LIBOR. The picture that emerges is of a market that has been remade in a few short years, its centre of gravity shifting from the old Eurodollar contract to SOFR, even as the fundamental role of STIR futures in the machinery of global finance has stayed the same.

The figures matter because STIR futures are the main tools for hedging and trading short-term interest rates, shaping how banks and investors manage rate risk, a role our debt capital market coverage frames.

Together these figures show a market dominated by dollar SOFR contracts, highly concentrated in a few products and two exchanges, and transformed over a few years by the global shift away from LIBOR.

Leading STIR Contracts: The Big Picture

Taken together, the STIR contract rankings of 2026 map the transformation of interest-rate trading, from the old LIBOR-based Eurodollar era to the new world of SOFR and other risk-free rates, a shift our hedge fund assets coverage sets in context.

Whether the newer currency contracts can grow to challenge the dominance of SOFR remains to be seen, but STIR futures remain the backbone of interest-rate trading, alongside the markets in our crypto market and Nasdaq stock market overviews.

Frequently Asked Questions: STIR Contracts