The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has granted Singapore Exchange authorization to open its Bitcoin and Ether perpetual futures to eligible United States institutional investors, giving American trading firms direct access to Asian crypto derivatives liquidity for the first time.
The authorization was granted under Regulation 48.10, a rule that allows a Foreign Board of Trade — an overseas exchange recognized by the CFTC — to offer qualifying US participants direct access to its electronic trading system. SGX can therefore make its existing contracts and order books accessible to American institutions without creating separate US 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 US institutional access. Previously, US participants couldn’t trade these contracts but now they can,” KC Lam, SGX Group’s head of crypto derivatives, told CoinDesk.
5.8 billion USD in cumulative volume
The approval applies to SGX’s Bitcoin perpetual futures, traded under the ticker BTP, and Ether perpetual futures, known as ETP. Both products launched in late November 2025 and operate without an expiry date, mimicking the perpetual swap structure popularized by offshore crypto exchanges but inside a regulated traditional finance wrapper.
Since launch, the two contracts have generated 5.8 billion USD in cumulative trading volume, equivalent to roughly 400,000 lots. Average daily volume across the pair reached 1,300 lots, or 19 million USD, as of August. Bitcoin has represented 83 percent of average daily trading volume since inception and 66 percent of outstanding open interest, underscoring where institutional demand remains concentrated.
The exchange’s busiest session to date saw 11,500 lots change hands, representing 145 million USD in notional value.
Lam described the authorization as “an important milestone” that connects US traditional finance participants trading crypto futures with Asian liquidity pools, and said the regulatory route helps cement crypto derivatives as a recognized asset class within conventional market infrastructure.
Not immediate access
American participation is not expected to appear immediately. Institutional clients still need to 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.
Lam said the process normally takes two to four weeks regardless of where a client is based. SGX has completed its FIS-enabled back-office integration and is preparing US clearing members to onboard clients over the next one to two months.
The gradual ramp-up mirrors how institutional demand for regulated crypto derivatives has developed through other structures. Coinbase Financial Markets received a regulatory route in May allowing eligible American institutions to access global crypto derivatives, initially through contracts listed on Deribit, relying on CFTC staff positions covering foreign futures and related margin requirements.
A different risk model from crypto-native venues
Although SGX’s contracts have no expiration date, their risk management structure differs sharply from the perpetual futures traded on crypto-native platforms. The exchange uses margin calls and requires traders to post additional collateral when positions fall below requirements, rather than closing positions through the automatic liquidation engines standard on crypto exchanges.
“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. Crypto exchanges typically close such positions automatically, a process that can produce clusters of forced selling or buying during sharp market moves — the very dynamic SGX’s model is designed to avoid.
SGX also separates trading and clearing functions, with clearing members sitting between the exchange and clients as an intermediate risk buffer. “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 added.
Stablecoins are not accepted as collateral for the contracts. Lam said the exclusion was deliberate, because stablecoins can lose their peg during periods of market volatility. The contracts instead settle against benchmarks jointly developed with CoinDesk Indices, which SGX says are managed under the European Union Benchmark Regulation.
Regulated perps keep expanding
The CFTC authorization lands as regulated perpetual futures gain ground in the United States. In May, the commission approved the first regulated Bitcoin perpetual futures for listing on a US exchange, opening a domestic path for a contract type that had been concentrated on offshore platforms. Kraken followed in June, launching perpetual futures for eligible US traders through its CFTC-regulated derivatives business Bitnomial.
SGX’s approach differs from both: rather than listing new US contracts, it extends the reach of contracts already trading in Singapore.
The pipeline does not stop at perpetuals. Lam said SGX plans to develop dated Bitcoin and Ether futures and options next, with infrastructure work for those products representing the main technical hurdle. Once that system is operating, adding other major cryptocurrencies should become closer to routine contract development.
“We plan to broaden our offerings but we are taking a disciplined, step-by-step approach,” Lam said.
For US institutions, the practical effect is a second regulated door into crypto derivatives exposure — one denominated in Asian liquidity, cleared through traditional members, and supervised by a regulator that has spent 2026 steadily bringing the perpetual futures market under its oversight.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency markets are volatile; always do your own research before investing.
Reg 48.10 is a quiet way for US desks to reach Asian perp liquidity without a single new domestic listing. 5.8 billion USD in cumulative volume on SGX crypto contracts and US firms could not touch any of it until now.
the quiet part is basis traders finally getting tighter spreads during singapore hours instead of staring at dead CME book after midnight
Reg 48.10 is the same carve-out the foreign boards used for decades, just pointed at crypto perps now. US institutions get direct SGX order book access without a separate listing. Cleaner than most expected.
wasnt this exactly the volume regulators pushed offshore last cycle? now its legal offshore lol. funny how that works
BTC at 83% of ADV and 66% of open interest on BTP tracks. ETH desks keep claiming the flip and never show up in the derivatives numbers
11,500 lots and 145 million notional in the busiest session for contracts that launched in November. That is a respectable tape for under a year of trading.
145 million notional in the busiest session is a solid tape but its still one decent CME hour. double it on US flow first, then we talk about migration
Great for institutions. Meanwhile regular US traders still cannot legally touch offshore perps, same as always. Two-tier market gets more obvious each year.
two-tier market is right. Reg 48.10 requires eligible contract participant status, so retail stays locked out of the exact same book
two tier market since forever. ECP status costs more in legal fees than most traders make in a year, thats the moat
first direct access to asian perps liquidity for US firms. the CME-SGX basis trade is about to get spicy
spicy is one word for it. give it a month before some fund blows up on the overnight timezone gap
A month is optimistic. First holiday session with thin Singapore books and someone learns the timezone lesson the expensive way.
SGX books are thin overnight for now, but 1,300 lots a day before any US flow says the base was already real. give it a quarter before the blowup jokes land
1,300 lots a day against the CME crypto book is a rounding error tho. US flow doubles it within a month or the whole thesis is dead
give it more than a month. ECP onboarding alone is weeks of legal review before a single lot crosses the book. doubling BTP volume by end of quarter is the fair test
1300 lots is also day one with ECP paperwork still clearing. honest read is nobody knows the steady state until the legal queue finishes
thin singapore lunch hour liquidity plus one fat finger is all it takes. the first big overnight gap story writes itself
fat finger gap cuts both ways tho. the overnight book also pays a better basis if you are the only US desk awake, one desk disaster is another desk fill
BTP and ETP order books opening to US desks is the actual headline here. Watch where open interest migrates once American flow can hit those books directly.
BTP open interest after the first full month of US hours is the number to watch. If it doubles, CME loses the overnight basis trade overnight.
if BTP open interest doubles CME does not lose overnight, they just clone the spread product and keep the flow. incumbents copy faster than people think
CME cloning the spread still leaves the liquidity parked in singapore hours. copying a product takes a quarter, moving overnight flow takes years of habits
cloning the spread is the easy half though. CME still needs singapore hours liquidity and that lives in the SGX book, not the contract spec
the FBOT carve-out is decades old, pointing it at crypto perps is the only new part. institutions get direct access, retail keeps watching from the fence as usual