Cboe Digital receives nod for margin trades on its crypto futures exchange
Cboe Digital, a major options exchange in the United States, has had its application to offer margined futures contracts for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) approved by the United States commodities regulator.
While Cboe has offered crypto futures contracts since December 2017, margin trades were not available to users.
With the new approval, users will be able to trade Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) futures with a fraction of what they initially had to put upfront.
The approval has also been seen as a positive step for Cboe as it will allow traditional financial firms access crypto futures without intermediaries having to take custody.
“That’s where the concept of us also having a spot market has advantages,” said Cboe Digital President John Palmer in a statement to Bloomberg. “We didn’t want to have to force participants to custody or touch the physical asset.”
The positive news comes at a pivotal time for the industry, as those in the U.S. market continue to face regulatory uncertainty from the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission.
Today the CFTC approved Cboe Clear Digital, LLC to clear margined digital asset futures. Learn more: https://t.co/tWLd2F7E2h
CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero has praised Cboe’s approach, and stressed that other crypto firms should follow Cboe’s lead and fit within the existing traditional markets structure first and foremost:
“Cboe has not done that, instead operating within the parameters of the traditional futures market structure and regulatory framework,” she added.
The successful application stands in “stark contrast” to the application the CFTC reviewed from FTX prior to its bankruptcy, Goldsmith Romero said.
The Commissioner explained that Cboe’s approval came after the regulator
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