CME Group has extended the deadline for migration from CME iLink 2 to iLink 3 Convenience Gateways (CGW) for order entry to Saturday the 1st March 2025.
From Sunday the 2nd March 2025 a charge of 1,000 USD per iLink 2 CGW session per week will be applied to each session that has not yet migrated to iLink 3.
CME iLink 2 on CGW will be decommissioned on Sunday 6th April 2025.
This is a significant protocol change: The CME iLink 2 access is/was based on FIX Engine implementations while the iLink 3 protocol uses FIX Simple Binary Encoding (SBE) and uses the FIX Performance (FIXP) session layer protocol. From a direct market access (DMA) SDK code perspective, it’s a rewrite rather than an update.
Beyond the necessary technical integration development and testing work for trading application frameworks, there are some key additional stages that need to be completed:
By this time firms should have completed the above and be good to go.
When it comes to supporting the CME iLink 3 API, organisations face/faced a critical decision: should they build the necessary infrastructure in-house or purchase third-party solutions? Each approach has its merits and potential drawbacks.
Building in-house allows for greater control over the development process and customisation to meet specific business needs. However, it requires significant up front and ongoing investment in terms of time, resources, and expertise. On the other hand, purchasing third-party solutions can expedite the migration process and provide access to tested, proven, and supported technologies.
OnixS provides tested and proven CME iLink 3 SDK solutions with full support.
The OnixS directConnect: CME iLink 3 Binary Order Entry Handler SDK implementations provide out-of-the-box C++, .NET, and Java solutions with:
If you are still not ready then time is now very tight. OnixS can help.
Register to download an OnixS directConnect: CME iLink 3 Binary Order Entry Handler SDK evaluation.