Anchorage Digital has applied to register a swap dealer with the CFTC to expand its institutional crypto options business. The National Futures Association has not finished reviewing the application, and the company gave no timeline.
Institutional crypto platform Anchorage Digital has filed an application to register a swap dealer with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The firm wants to expand its institutional crypto options business.
It submitted the application to the National Futures Association through Anchorage Digital Swap Dealer, LLC, according to a statement shared exclusively with The Block. The company now awaits registration while the NFA reviews the filing.
Options on bitcoin and ether, with maturities up to one year
If regulators approve the application, CEO and co-founder Nathan McCauley said Anchorage Digital Swap Dealer expects to offer European-style options on bitcoin and ether, with maturities ranging up to one year. The firm intends to add more products later, subject to its own approval process and regulatory requirements.
McCauley offered no estimate of when the review might finish. According to The Block, he said: "We aren't in a position to speculate on timing."
Once registration is complete, McCauley said institutional clients could trade digital asset derivatives with a CFTC-registered counterparty alongside Anchorage's existing custody and other services.
Public companies drive existing options growth
Much of the growth in Anchorage's existing options business has come from public companies holding bitcoin and ether on their balance sheets, the firm said. Asset managers and funds using options to manage their exposure have also contributed. McCauley would not disclose trading volumes or growth figures.
The swap dealer entity would face CFTC requirements for capital, risk management, and margin, the firm said, using the same framework the Dodd-Frank Act applied to banks for interest rate, credit, and FX markets. Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A. became the first federally chartered digital asset bank in 2021 and is regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Source: The Block
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