Singapore Exchange Wins CFTC Approval to Offer Crypto Perpetuals to U.S. Institutions

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The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has authorized Singapore Exchange to offer its Bitcoin and Ether perpetual futures to American institutional investors under Regulation 48.10, which allows recognized Foreign Boards of Trade to provide direct access to U.S. participants without a separate domestic registration. The contracts have generated $5.8 billion in cumulative volume since launching in November 2025, with Bitcoin representing 83% of average daily trading volume. SGX uses margin calls rather than automatic liquidations and does not accept stablecoins as collateral. U.S. clearing members are expected to begin onboarding clients within one to two months, with account setup typically taking two to four weeks. The exchange plans to launch dated futures and options for Bitcoin and Ether as its next product expansion.

Key Elements

The Singapore Exchange has cleared a regulatory path for American trading desks to access its Bitcoin and Ether perpetual futures, marking the first time U.S. institutions can trade crypto derivatives listed on an Asian exchange without a separate domestic registration.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission granted the authorization under Regulation 48.10, a provision that lets a recognized Foreign Board of Trade offer qualifying U.S. participants direct access to its electronic trading system. That means SGX can open its existing order books to eligible American institutions without creating new U.S. listings or registering the Singapore venue as a domestic exchange.

“Under the Regulation 48.10 ruling, we have obtained CFTC authorization to open our crypto products to U.S. institutional access. Previously, U.S. participants couldn’t trade these contracts but now they can,” KC Lam, head of crypto derivatives at SGX Group, told CoinDesk.

He described the approval as “an important milestone” that connects American traditional finance participants trading crypto futures with Asian liquidity pools, while helping establish crypto derivatives as a regulated asset class.

Contracts Gain Traction Since Late 2025

SGX launched its Bitcoin perpetual futures, known as BTP, and Ether perpetual futures, or ETP, in late November 2025. Both products operate without an expiry date, offering traders flexibility not available in dated futures contracts.

Since inception, the two contracts have generated $5.8 billion in cumulative trading volume, equivalent to roughly 400,000 lots. Average daily volume across both products reached 1,300 lots, or $19 million, as of August. Bitcoin has dominated activity, accounting for 83% of average daily trading volume since launch and 66% of outstanding open interest.

The exchange’s busiest session saw 11,500 lots change hands, representing $145 million in notional trading volume.

Note: Figures reflect combined Bitcoin and Ether perpetual futures activity on SGX since the November 2025 launch.

A Different Risk Framework

While SGX’s perpetual contracts mirror the no-expiry format popular on crypto-native exchanges, the risk management structure follows traditional futures market conventions. The exchange uses margin calls and requires traders to post additional collateral when positions fall below margin requirements, rather than triggering automatic liquidations common on crypto platforms.

“Unlike crypto-native venues where sudden volatility can trigger auto-liquidations, our traditional risk framework uses margin calls and top-up collateral, to prevent involuntary position closures during market spikes,” Lam said.

Automatic liquidations occur when leveraged positions develop a margin shortfall as prices move against traders. On crypto exchanges, positions can be closed automatically if collateral requirements are no longer met, potentially creating clusters of forced selling or buying during sharp market moves.

SGX also separates trading and clearing functions, with clearing members sitting between the exchange and participating clients as an intermediate risk layer. “By routing trades through clearing members who act as an intermediate risk buffer, we mirror the proven infrastructure of traditional futures and commodities markets,” Lam said.

Notably, the exchange does not accept stablecoins as collateral for its crypto perpetual contracts. Lam said stablecoins were excluded because they can lose their peg during periods of market volatility. Instead, the contracts use benchmarks jointly developed with CoinDesk Indices, which are managed under the European Union Benchmark Regulation head of iEdge Indices at SGX Group

U.S. Onboarding Timeline

American participation is not expected to appear immediately, as institutional clients must still complete SGX’s onboarding process. New users are brought in through clearing members and must complete know-your-customer checks, fund their accounts, and establish API connections. The process typically takes two to four weeks regardless of where a client is based.

“With our FIS-enabled back-office integration now fully in place, we are actively preparing our U.S. clearing members to onboard clients over the next month or two,” Lam said.

Traders currently use the contracts for both directional positions and arbitrage strategies. Some positions are tied to macroeconomic themes such as concerns over currency debasement, while other traders use cash-and-carry strategies to capture differences in funding rates and prices across trading venues.

Regulated Perpetuals Gain Ground in the U.S.

The approval comes as regulated perpetual futures have been expanding in the United States. In May, the CFTC approved the first regulated Bitcoin perpetual for listing on a U.S. exchange, opening a domestic path for a contract type that had been concentrated on offshore crypto platforms.

Eligible U.S. customers have since gained several routes into the market. Kraken launched perpetual futures in June through its CFTC-regulated derivatives business, Bitnomial, giving eligible clients access to perpetual contracts alongside spot, margin and traditional futures products. Coinbase Financial Markets also received a regulatory route in May allowing eligible American institutions to access global crypto derivatives, initially through derivatives listed on Deribit.

SGX is taking a different route by extending direct institutional access to contracts already trading on its Singapore market.

Next Steps: Dated Futures and Options

Looking beyond perpetuals, SGX plans to develop dated Bitcoin and Ether futures and options. “The next step in our pipeline is launching dated futures and options for Bitcoin and Ethereum,” Lam said.

Building the infrastructure needed for those products represents the main technical work SGX expects the process of adding other major cryptocurrencies to become more similar to introducing another futures contract

“We plan to broaden our offerings but we are taking a disciplined, step-by-step approach,” Lam said.

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Source: finance.biggo.com