“You can now trade listed spot crypto on CFTC exchanges,” CFTC Acting Chairman Caroline D. Pham wrote in a Thursday (Dec. 4) post on social platform X. “We’re working smarter and faster to protect Americans who deserve safe U.S. markets, not offshore exchanges.”
The move is part of a plan across the President Donald Trump administration to help the United States retake the lead in digital assets markets, Pham said in a Thursday press release from the CFTC.
The CFTC in particular aims to promote responsible innovation on futures exchanges by balancing regulatory flexibility with safeguards for traders, Pham said in the release.
“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,” Pham said in the release. “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.”
Derivatives exchange company Bitnomial said in a Thursday press release that it plans to launch a leveraged retail spot crypto exchange operating under CFTC regulation during the week of Dec. 8.
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The company will offer the exchange through its designated contract market, Bitnomial Exchange, and its derivatives clearing organization, Bitnomial Clearinghouse, according to the release.
Bitnomial founder and CEO Luke Hoersten said in the release that the announcement by the CFTC makes leveraged spot crypto trading available under the same regulatory framework as U.S. perpetuals, futures and options.
“We’re bringing leveraged spot crypto trading back to the U.S. with CFTC oversight,” Hoersten said. “We’re grateful to Chairman Pham for her pro-business approach to allow regulated entities to utilize the full scope of statutory capabilities afforded under U.S. law.”
The CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission said in September that CFTC- and SEC-registered exchanges are not prohibited from facilitating the trading of certain spot crypto asset products.
The regulators said in a joint statement that they were working together to provide market participants with trading venue choice and optionality.
