Major commodity brokers are preparing to offer derivatives tied to the cost of computing power used in artificial intelligence, opening a potential new market for hedge funds and institutional traders, according to a report by Bloomberg.

ADM Investor Services, BGC Group and Nanhua USA are positioning themselves ahead of potential regulatory approval for compute futures trading in the US, as demand grows for instruments to hedge volatile computing costs and trade price differences between electricity, natural gas and data centre capacity.

The emerging market could attract hedge funds seeking arbitrage opportunities across energy and compute markets, alongside hyperscalers, cloud providers and AI developers looking to manage their exposure to infrastructure costs.

BGC Group established a dedicated division in June to facilitate secondary trading in compute and memory capacity, including real-time risk management. Nanhua USA has already reported growing interest from technology-focused clients, while ADM Investor Services is considering expanding its research capabilities to support the new market.

“There’s definitely going to be significant interest for it from those looking to hedge,” said Zach Espinosa, co-head of compute infrastructure markets at BGC Group, adding that standardised contracts would help improve liquidity.

The development comes as exchanges compete to establish benchmark contracts for computing power. CME Group, Intercontinental Exchange, Nodal Exchange and Architect Financial Technologies are awaiting approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to launch their products.

Regulatory uncertainty remains a barrier, however. In August, the CFTC prevented exchanges from listing compute derivatives pending the completion of a public comment period, prompting prediction market operator Kalshi to withdraw related event contracts.

The push into compute derivatives comes amid growing scrutiny of the capital required to build AI infrastructure, with investors increasingly concerned about the financial risks associated with large-scale spending on data centres and processing capacity.

Peter Keavey, global head of energy and environmental products at CME Group, said the scale of leverage and financial exposure involved in AI infrastructure development created a significant need for risk management instruments.

The emergence of standardised compute futures could provide hedge funds with a new avenue for trading volatility and relative value opportunities across technology infrastructure and energy markets, although the market's eventual size and liquidity remain uncertain.