The Singapore Exchange has received CFTC authorization to open its Bitcoin and Ether perpetual futures to eligible U.S. institutions under Regulation 48.10. The contracts have generated $5.8 billion in cumulative volume since launching in November 2025, and SGX expects onboarding for American clients to take two to four weeks.
Singapore Exchange has secured Commodity Futures Trading Commission authorization to give U.S. institutional investors direct access to its Bitcoin and Ether perpetual futures. The move opens SGX's existing crypto derivatives order books to American trading firms.
Regulation 48.10 opens the door
SGX Group head of crypto derivatives KC Lam told CoinDesk the approval was granted under Regulation 48.10, a rule that lets a Foreign Board of Trade recognized by the CFTC offer qualifying U.S. participants direct access to its electronic trading system. According to CoinDesk: "Previously, U.S. participants couldn't trade these contracts but now they can", Lam said.
The approval covers SGX's Bitcoin perpetual futures, known as BTP, and its Ether perpetual futures, known as ETP. Both products have traded without an expiry date since late November 2025. The route lets SGX extend its existing contracts to U.S. institutions without creating separate domestic listings or registering the Singapore venue as a U.S. exchange.
Lam described the authorization as an important milestone connecting U.S. traditional finance participants with Asian liquidity pools. Other paths have opened for American traders in recent months: Kraken launched perpetual futures in June through its regulated Bitnomial business, and the CFTC approved the first regulated Bitcoin perpetual for a domestic exchange in May.
Bitcoin drives most trading activity
Since their November 2025 launch, SGX's Bitcoin and Ether perpetual futures have generated $5.8 billion in cumulative trading volume, equivalent to roughly 400,000 lots. Average daily volume across the two contracts reached 1,300 lots, or $19 million, as of August, with Bitcoin representing 83% of that daily volume and 66% of outstanding open interest.
The exchange's busiest session recorded 11,500 lots, representing $145 million in notional trading volume. American participation is not expected immediately, though, since institutional clients still need to complete SGX's onboarding through clearing members, including know-your-customer checks, funding and API connections. Lam said the process normally takes two to four weeks regardless of where a client is based.
Margin calls replace automatic liquidation
SGX's risk structure differs from perpetual futures traded on crypto-native exchanges. The exchange uses margin calls and requires traders to post additional collateral when positions fall below margin requirements, rather than closing positions through automatic liquidation. Clearing members sit between the exchange and clients as an intermediate risk buffer, mirroring the structure used in traditional futures markets.
Lam said SGX does not accept stablecoins as collateral because they can lose their peg during periods of market volatility. Its contracts instead use benchmarks jointly developed with CoinDesk Indices, which Mohit Baheti, head of iEdge Indices at SGX Group, said are managed under the European Union Benchmark Regulation.
Looking ahead, SGX plans to launch dated Bitcoin and Ether futures and options next. Lam said building the required infrastructure is the main technical work, after which adding other major cryptocurrencies would become similar to introducing another futures contract.
Source: crypto.news
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