Memphis, United States
Location
Memphis, United States
Region
Americas
Product Types
Agricultural
The Memphis Cotton Exchange, founded in 1873 in Memphis, Tennessee, was a historic spot market for cotton pricing, grading, and trading in the American South. As one of the world's largest cotton-handling cities, Memphis became a natural hub for cotton commerce. The Exchange provided standardised grading and price reporting services for the US cotton industry for over a century, though trading activity and formal exchange functions have significantly diminished as futures markets and ICE took over price-discovery roles.
HedgeStreet Exchange was a CFTC-regulated US derivatives exchange founded in 2004, offering small-denomination binary contracts (starting at $10) on economic events including crude oil prices, gold, natural gas, and macroeconomic indicators. Designed to democratise derivatives access for retail traders, HedgeStreet was one of the first exchanges to offer CFTC-regulated retail binary options on commodity prices. In 2008, the exchange was acquired and eventually rebranded as Cantor Exchange (part of Cantor Fitzgerald), which subsequently ceased operations.
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is one of the world's most influential financial exchanges, founded in 1898 as the Chicago Butter and Egg Board and renamed CME in 1919. Headquartered in Chicago and part of CME Group, CME offers futures and options across meats, currencies, Eurodollar interest rates, equity index products, and a range of financial instruments, providing global risk management solutions to participants in over 150 countries.
The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) was North America's first and only voluntary, legally binding greenhouse gas emission reduction and trading system. Founded in 2003 by economist Richard Sandor, CCX allowed member companies to make binding commitments to reduce carbon emissions and trade Carbon Financial Instruments (CFIs). Acquired by ICE (Intercontinental Exchange) in 2010, CCX ceased operations the same year after voluntary carbon credit prices collapsed following the failure of US cap-and-trade legislation.
LedgerX was the first CFTC-regulated bitcoin derivatives exchange in the United States, offering bitcoin options and futures contracts to institutional and retail participants. Founded in 2013 and launching trading in 2017, LedgerX pioneered regulated crypto derivatives clearing. In 2021, it was acquired by FTX and rebranded as FTX US Derivatives. Following the catastrophic collapse of the FTX exchange group in November 2022, FTX US Derivatives ceased operations.