TL;DR
- SGX obtained CFTC authorization under Regulation 48.10 to offer bitcoin and ether perpetual futures to U.S. institutional investors.
- Since their launch in November 2025, the contracts accumulated $5.8 billion in volume, with bitcoin representing 83% of average daily volume.
- Unlike native crypto platforms, SGX uses margin calls and additional collateral instead of automatic liquidations to manage risk.
The Singapore Exchange (SGX) obtained authorization from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to offer its cryptocurrency perpetual futures to U.S. institutional investors.
The license falls under Regulation 48.10, the mechanism through which the CFTC allows a registered Foreign Board of Trade to offer direct access to its trading system to U.S. clients, without needing to register as a locally regulated platform.
KC Lam, head of crypto derivatives at SGX Group, described the development as “an important milestone” that connects U.S. traditional market clients with Asian liquidity pools and legitimizes crypto derivatives as a regulated asset class.
SGX: Volume and Weeks of Onboarding
The bitcoin (BTP) and ether (ETP) perpetual futures contracts launched in late November 2025. Since then, they have accumulated $5.8 billion in volume, equivalent to approximately 400,000 lots. At the end of August, the combined open interest of both contracts stood at 1,300 lots, valued at $19 million. Bitcoin accounts for 66% of open interest and 83% of average daily volume since inception. The daily record reached 11,500 lots, or $145 million in notional value.
The onboarding process for new clients follows the same timeline as in any jurisdiction: between two and four weeks to complete KYC verifications, deposits, and API connectivity through clearing members. Lam indicated that back-office integration via FIS is already operational and that U.S. clearing members are in the process of enabling access for their clients over the next one to two months.
Differentiation Structure
SGX’s product design differs structurally from native crypto perpetuals. It has no expiration date, but manages risk through margin calls and additional collateral, avoiding the automatic liquidations that typically trigger cascading sell-offs during volatility spikes.
Trades are channeled through clearing members that act as an intermediate risk buffer, replicating the proven infrastructure of traditional futures markets. Stablecoins are excluded as acceptable collateral, given that they can lose their peg during periods of high volatility.
The contracts are referenced to indices developed jointly with CoinDesk Indices, administered under European benchmark regulation. As a next step, SGX plans to launch expiry futures and options on bitcoin and ether before expanding the offering to other cryptocurrencies.
