CME Data Center "High Temperature Robbery": Air Conditioning Strike, Hundreds of Billions in Transactions Halted for 10 Hours

DAOplomacy

2025-11-29 10:34:20

Abstract generation in progress

Last Thursday night to Friday morning, the world's largest derivatives trading exchange, CME Chicago Mercantile Exchange, experienced a “heat wave disaster” — the core data center located in Aurora, a suburb west of Chicago, had its air conditioning system fail, causing the room temperature to soar to 49°C, nearly half above the industry's safety line, which directly resulted in a service interruption of over 10 hours.

What is even more puzzling is that CME has a backup data center in New York, yet it was not activated. Industry insiders provided a rather subtle explanation: those market makers and trading institutions that quote heavily on the CME platform may not have the technical facilities in place at the New York backup center. Rather than hastily switching over and creating chaos, it would be better to wait for the air conditioning over at Aurora to be fixed.

This sounds a bit absurd—a exchange managing trillions of dollars in trading volume is actually brought down by an air conditioning failure. But it also exposes a harsh reality: no matter how advanced the financial infrastructure is, it cannot withstand the physical risks at the hardware level.

View Original

This page may contain third-party content, which is provided for information purposes only (not representations/warranties) and should not be considered as an endorsement of its views by Gate, nor as financial or professional advice. See Disclaimer for details.

19 Likes

Reward
19
6
Repost
Share

Comment

0/400

StakeWhisperer

· 11-30 11:10

With the level of the top exchanges in the world, a hundred billion in transactions gets stuck in the air conditioning... laugh out loud --- Wait, is the backup center just for show? Isn't this just an excuse for laziness? --- A 49-degree server room can last 10 hours, the redundancy design of the data center really needs to be reflected upon --- Market makers must be feeling doomed, just because the New York center is not up to standard? Why bother? --- This is simply a compromise between cost and risk; CME got it right but also faced a blow-up.

View OriginalReply0

DegenMcsleepless

· 11-30 07:36

Air conditioning strikes and freezes transactions worth trillions? How ridiculous is that, CME your infrastructure is too fragile!

View OriginalReply0

Fren_Not_Food

· 11-29 11:04

Wait, is this it for CME? A trading exchange managing trillions is actually brought down by the shorts, haha --- The New York backup center is practically useless, how much can they perform? --- Market makers would rather wait for the AC than change the system, what does that mean? Trust level is maxed out --- In a 49-degree server room, my graphics card would cry just looking at it --- So this is why "Decentralization" is going to be hot, haha --- Trading worth billions comes to a halt because of the air conditioning, this joke is going to last a whole year.

View OriginalReply0

potentially_notable

· 11-29 11:04

Can't fix the air conditioning, so the hundred billion transactions have to stop? That's just ridiculous. Is the backup center in New York just for show? Even the market makers don't trust it, how embarrassing. It feels like there's a lot of depth in the industry; looks good on the surface but is actually a mess. CME has really been caught off guard this time; no matter how big the exchange is, it can't escape the bottleneck of infrastructure. It's a good thing that this issue has come to light; let's not keep the Large Investors in the dark any longer.

View OriginalReply0

GasFeeCryer

· 11-29 11:01

Laughing to death, is CME serious? Over a trillion in volume just got paralyzed by an air conditioning failure. I was wondering why they didn't set up a backup system in advance. Hundreds of billions in trades stopped for ten hours; how many people must have been ruined by this? It's simply ridiculous. The New York data center is sitting idle just to wait for Chicago to fix the air conditioning? This logic is truly unbelievable. The industry safety line is only 25℃, and it shot up to 49℃; that's hot enough to fry an egg! So the question is, why didn't anyone maintain this system in advance? Or is it that no one took it seriously? Market makers would rather halt everything than have inadequate technical facilities; this is too absurd. Who bears the cost? This incident is a wake-up call; no matter how big the exchange is, it can't withstand an air conditioning failure. It's really unsustainable.

View OriginalReply0

TradingNightmare

· 11-29 10:56

Here are some distinctly styled comments: **Comment 1:** Air conditioning failure for ten hours? How outrageous, a hundred billion in trades just vanished like that. **Comment 2:** So even the big exchanges can't be relied upon, and the New York backup is too scary to use, this logic is incredible. **Comment 3:** 49-degree server room haha, now this is truly "hot money". **Comment 4:** One air conditioner can destroy a system with over a trillion in volume, I’m laughing like crazy. **Comment 5:** The New York data center is practically useless, market makers are directly held hostage, this is counterparty risk. **Comment 6:** How can a ten-hour shutdown go by without a sound? How many people got liquidated and no one is saying anything? **Comment 7:** The backup system is practically useless, that's the most heartbreaking part, no one truly believes in it. **Comment 8:** I just want to know how many people lost so much during those ten hours that they ended up at grandma's house. **Comment 9:** Is not using the New York backup smart or playing with fire? Feels a bit like a gambler’s mentality. **Comment 10:** The world's largest exchange is held hostage by air conditioning, does web3 still need to look for centralized exchanges?

View OriginalReply0

Trending TopicsView More
#JoinGrowthPointsDrawToWiniPhone17
218.95K Popularity
#DecemberMarketOutlook
8.66K Popularity
#GIGGLEAndPIPPINSurge
1.17K Popularity
#LINKETFToLaunch
1.32K Popularity
#SharingMy100xToken
1.82K Popularity

Hot Gate FunView More

1
GPANDARed Panda
MC:$3.3KHolders:1
0.00%
2
GCOINGATE COIN
MC:$3.3KHolders:1
0.00%
3
110489196155I am $1 rich
MC:$3.33KHolders:1
0.00%
4
IBVMIBVM
MC:$3.5KHolders:5
0.89%
5
GMGM
MC:$3.34KHolders:1
0.00%

Sitemap