CME Halts Trading for Several Hours Before Restoring Service
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the world’s largest derivatives exchange, experienced a 10-hour trading halt due to a cooling issue at its Illinois data center. Trading was fully restored by 1:30 pm UTC Friday, but the disruption drew significant criticism from traders, some of whom accused the CME of market manipulation, especially since the halt occurred during low-volume Thanksgiving trading and just before silver futures neared all-time highs. On resumption, Bitcoin futures traded higher, opening at $90,940 from a previous close of $90,355 and rising above $93,000, recovering from a recent low of $80,522. Analysts note resistance for Bitcoin at $95,000, suggesting further gains are possible if that level becomes support, with expectations of higher prices in 2026, although short-term volatility may continue.
