CFTC Gives Formal Blessing to Spot Trading of Crypto on Registered Exchange

“Leveraged spot crypto trading is now available under the same regulatory framework as U.S. perpetuals, futures, and options,” Bitnomial founder and CEO Luke Hoersten said in a press release. “Broker intermediation and Clearinghouse net settlement eliminate counterparty risks while providing the capital efficiency traders need. We’re bringing leveraged spot crypto trading back to the U.S. with CFTC oversight.”

The launch represents a key milestone in the Trump administration’s efforts to keep crypto trading within U.S. borders rather than on off-shore, often sparingly regulated exchanges.

“Recent events on offshore exchanges have shown us how essential it is for Americans to have more choice and access to safe, regulated U.S. markets,” acting CFTC chair Caroline Pham said in a statement. “Now, for 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.”

It also marks the belated fulfillment of a change in regulations regarding leveraged retail trading. In the wake of the 2008 financial, Congress restricted such trading to futures exchanges as part of the Dodd-Frank reforms. But CFTC never issued formal rules clarifying how to list retail exchange traded products, preventing registered exchanges from enabling the reform.

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“[T]he CFTC is finally using our decades-long existing authority to work smarter and faster to protect Americans who deserve safe U.S. markets now, not offshore exchanges that lack basic safeguards against uncontrolled customer losses,” Pham said.

When trading spot cryptocurrencies, investors frequently use leverage to amplify their positions. That’s distinct from trading crypto derivatives, such as perpetual futures, where traders never actually hold the digital asset itself so pumping up their positions with leverage would not affect their returns.

“Leveraged spot crypto trading is now available under the same regulatory framework as U.S. perpetuals, futures, and options,” Hoersten said. “Broker intermediation and Clearinghouse net settlement eliminate counterparty risks while providing the capital efficiency traders need.”

The announcement comes as Congress is debating crypto market-structure legislation that would define jurisdictional boundaries between the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The House passed the Clarity Act in July, which assigned the CFTC responsibility to regulate digital commodities transactions, including exchanges, brokers, and dealers. But a parallel bill in the Senate has bogged down amid partisan differences over crypto and Democratic concerns over Trump and his family’s dealings in crypto currencies.

The Bitnomial launch also comes amid recent turbulence in crypto currency prices, which potentially could spur efforts to clarify trading rules. But with an election year at hand, further bipartisan action on market-structure legislation will only grow less likely in 2026.