Overview
- Acting Chair Caroline Pham said she expects leveraged spot crypto products to begin trading before year’s end, with a push for launches as early as December.
- The CFTC is in direct talks with designated contract markets including CME Group, Cboe Futures Exchange, ICE Futures, and crypto-native venues such as Coinbase Derivatives and Bitnomial.
- Officials say the initiative implements recommendations from the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets under existing Commodity Exchange Act authority.
- The planned offerings would enable margin, leverage, and financing on spot assets under institutional oversight, providing a domestic alternative to offshore platforms used by U.S. traders.
- Mike Selig has been nominated to become permanent CFTC chair and awaits Senate confirmation, and industry voices such as Two Prime’s Alexander Blume have welcomed the move as a step toward broader adoption.