Shanghai Futures Exchange Explores AI Token Futures, a First-of-Its-Kind Product
According to Reuters on May 28, citing sources, the Shanghai Futures Exchange is in the early stages of designing a futures contract for AI Tokens, with research efforts directly stemming from the competitive landscape between China and the US in the AI field. Unlike the GPU compute lease futures being prepared by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the Shanghai exchange’s product is expected to be directly linked to the token consumption used for pricing AI services, rather than the leasing price of underlying computing resources. Both design approaches aim to allow AI supply chain companies to hedge against inference cost fluctuations. Official data shows that daily token usage in China has surged roughly 1,000-fold since the beginning of 2024, surpassing 140 trillion tokens by the end of March 2026. A shortage of computing power has already forced several domestic large model developers to impose access quotas on users.
The sources stressed that a timeline for submitting a formal application for regulatory approval has not been set, and plans may still change. A research report released earlier this month by Baocheng Futures predicts that it will still take 3 to 5 years for computing power futures to materialize in China, with current market fragmentation being a major obstacle. Xiao Feng, Chairman of HashKey Group, described tokens as the “digital fuel” driving AI models. Shao Yilei, Dean of the Shanghai AI Finance Academy at East China Normal University, noted that China and the US are the only two countries in the world capable of mass-producing AI capabilities at scale, and that controlling the pricing of tokens will play a key role in the bilateral competition. Earlier this month, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink also stated that the surge in token demand could give rise to an entirely new asset class.