Meh, in dollar terms, the volumes are still an order of magnitude lower. More importantly, mini-futures are a retail-centric product. The product is adding new customers that are hungry for leverage and don't have the capital. Also, HFTs are very happy to make markets there since it's almost a guarantee that the other side is an "uninformed investor". This one, however, is tricky. On one hand, it's a volatility index futures contract and thus is trying to take liquidity away from a well established market with a lot of players. On the other hand, they are not trying to copy VIX futures exactly but rather are trying to build something of their own. My prior is that it's a fail because most new futures products fail. If you go on the CME web site, there are some 20-30 futures just in the equity section that have zero or virtually-zero volume. In this case, they are listing futures on an index that nobody really follows and nobody really has a structural reason to use. So it's reasonable to expect that it will not happen (just like MIAX Spikes futures and options so far have been a dud).
The CME had a Brent contract at half the fees for the longest time. It may still be. B/A too wide for scalpers and contract too big for swing traders. It never took off in spite of CL trading within the same complex. The most liquid contract in every complex is enough asset diversification. And with options, you can cook up a scheme for a minimum variance portfolio for almost any sized nut with the bulk in cash. Applying any amount of gearing that you want. Yep, I am a CME fan boy.
First of all, this is on CME not on CBOE. Second of all, this is on NASDAQ and not on the broader SPX which encompasses more companies across more sectors/industries. What's important is how well it reflects the volatility of the market. Those are my thoughts so far.