Just like gold and oil, we’ll soon be able to trade AI token futures
Key takeaways
- The most important market of the future could be in LLM tokens — and financial groups are rushing to build new infrastructure for them.
- China s Shanghai Futures Exchange is currently designing a derivatives market for AI tokens, Reuters reports.
- GPU markets are still maturing, but given the wide range of companies using, selling and renting GPUs, there s a robust market for spot prices on GPU rental, typically charged by the hour.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
The most important market of the future could be in LLM tokens — and financial groups are rushing to build new infrastructure for them.
China s Shanghai Futures Exchange is currently designing a derivatives market for AI tokens, Reuters reports. The news comes as major derivatives exchange CME Group, and the Intercontinental Exchange (the owner of the NYSE) have separately said they re working on launching futures contracts for renting GPUs.
GPU markets are still maturing, but given the wide range of companies using, selling and renting GPUs, there s a robust market for spot prices on GPU rental, typically charged by the hour. According to data from AI Mining Co., which tracks daily GPU rental pricing across 28 marketplaces and cloud providers, median prices for Nvidia H100 GPUs ranged from $1.40 to $4.27 per hour across 13 marketplaces, while the average price for H200 GPUs were between $2.34 and $5 per hour across 10 marketplaces. And just over the past seven days, average H100 prices ranged from $2.79 to $3.33.