Acting CFTC Chair Caroline Pham said the move was intended to drive trading activity to US exchanges, rather than offshore ones “that lack basic safeguards.”
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The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has given approval for spot cryptocurrency products to trade on federally regulated futures exchanges.
In a Thursday notice, Acting CFTC Chair Caroline Pham the move was in response to policy directives from US President Donald Trump. She added that the approval followed recommendations by the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets, engagement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and consultations from the CFTC’s “Crypto Sprint” initiative.
“[F]or the first time ever, spot crypto can trade on CFTC-registered exchanges that have been the gold standard for nearly a hundred years, with the customer protections and market integrity that Americans deserve,” said Pham.
Pham, who became acting CFTC chair in January amid Trump’s taking office, is expected to step down once the US Senate confirms a replacement. The nomination of Michael Selig, an SEC official whom Trump nominated to chair the CFTC, is expected to for a vote soon after moving out of committee.
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One of the derivatives exchanges poised to be among the first to begin enacting trading is Bitnomial, which its launch for next week. The exchange is authorized to operate under the CFTC as a Designated Contract Market, which Coinbase also in 2020.
In addition to Selig’s nomination under consideration in the Senate, the CFTC has four empty commissioner seats on its leadership. As of Thursday, Trump had not announced any potential replacements for the regulator.
Also expected soon is for US senators to advance a digital asset market structure bill, legislation expected to lay out clear regulatory roles for the CFTC and SEC over cryptocurrencies. Discussion drafts of possible frameworks would give the CFTC more authority to regulate digital assets.
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