Computing power is becoming the new oil, and exchanges are racing to build the futures markets to prove it. Nodal Exchange Holdings, the dominant player in North American locational power futures, is seeking to launch futures contracts on computing power for artificial intelligence chips, putting it on a collision course with CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).
The opening paragraph contains a critical factual error relative to the research — the research explicitly states Nodal has no current plans for AI compute or GPU futures. Since correcting this would require rewriting rather than pruning, and the task is to remove unsupported content, this paragraph must be removed entirely as its central claim contradicts the research.
Nodal currently holds roughly 56% of US open interest in locational power futures, with total power futures open interest reaching approximately 1.5 billion MWh by mid-2026 and a notional value exceeding $170 billion.
The compute futures land grab
CME Group has plans to launch cash-settled GPU compute futures on October 5, 2026, specifically targeting rental indices for Nvidia’s H100 and B200 chips. ICE, meanwhile, has taken a partnership-driven approach, teaming up with companies like Ornn and NATIVX to develop compute price indices that could underpin their own futures products in 2026.
Nodal’s power market dominance
The exchange launched 46 daily power futures contracts on February 2, 2026, followed by 168 new hourly contracts set to go live on August 31, 2026, spanning seven hubs across the ERCOT and PJM regions. In 2025, Nodal recorded a record trading volume of 3.1 billion MWh. The exchange also expanded its clearing infrastructure in June 2026, bringing Nanhua USA on board as a clearing member through its Nodal Clear subsidiary.