CFTC clears Singapore Exchange crypto perpetual futures for US institutional access

Singapore Exchange has secured CFTC authorization to give U.S. institutional investors direct access to its Bitcoin and Ether perpetual futures, opening its existing crypto derivatives order books to American trading firms.

SGX Group head of crypto derivatives KC Lam told CoinDesk that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission authorization was granted under Regulation 48.10, allowing U.S. institutions to trade products that had previously been unavailable to them.

“Under the Regulation 48.10 ruling, we have obtained CFTC authorization to open our crypto products to U.S. institutional access. Previously, U.S. participants couldn’t trade these contracts but now they can,” Lam said.

The approval applies to SGX’s Bitcoin perpetual futures, or BTP, and Ether perpetual futures, known as ETP. Both products have been trading since late November 2025 and operate without an expiry date.

SGX crypto perpetual futures gain a route into the US

Regulation 48.10 provides a route for a Foreign Board of Trade, an overseas exchange recognized by the CFTC, to offer qualifying U.S. participants direct access to its electronic trading system.

SGX can therefore make its existing contracts and order books accessible to eligible American institutions without creating separate U.S. listings or registering the Singapore venue as a domestic exchange.

Lam described the authorization as “an important milestone” that connects U.S. traditional finance participants trading crypto futures with Asian liquidity pools. He said the regulatory route helps establish crypto derivatives as a regulated asset class.

U.S. access comes as regulated perpetual futures have been gaining ground in the country. In May, the CFTC approved the first regulated Bitcoin perpetual for listing on a U.S. exchange, opening a domestic path for a type of contract that had been concentrated on offshore crypto platforms.

Eligible U.S. customers subsequently gained several routes into the market. crypto.news previously reported that Kraken launched perpetual futures in June through its CFTC-regulated derivatives business, Bitnomial, giving eligible clients access to perpetual contracts alongside spot, margin and traditional futures products.

SGX is taking a different route by extending direct institutional access to contracts already trading on its Singapore market.

Bitcoin accounts for most SGX perpetual futures 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. Bitcoin represented 83% of average daily trading volume since inception and 66% of outstanding open interest.

The exchange recorded its busiest session at 11,500 lots, representing $145 million in notional trading volume.

American participation is not expected to appear immediately because 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 U.S. clearing members to onboard clients over the next one or two months.

Institutional demand for regulated crypto perpetuals has been developing through other structures in the U.S. market. Coinbase Financial Markets received a regulatory route in May allowing eligible American institutions to access global crypto derivatives, initially through derivatives listed on Deribit. The arrangement relied on CFTC staff positions covering foreign futures and related margin requirements.

SGX uses margin calls instead of automatic liquidation

Traders on SGX currently use the Bitcoin and Ether contracts for directional positions and arbitrage strategies.

Some positions are tied to macroeconomic themes such as concerns over currency debasement, while other traders use cash-and-carry strategies to capture differences in funding rates and prices across trading venues.

Although SGX’s contracts have no expiration date, their risk management structure differs from perpetual futures commonly traded on crypto-native exchanges.

The exchange uses margin calls and requires traders to provide additional collateral when their positions fall below margin requirements. Positions are not immediately closed through the automatic liquidation systems commonly used by 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 can close positions automatically if collateral requirements are no longer met, a process that can lead to clusters of forced selling or buying during sharp market moves.

SGX separates trading and clearing functions as another part of its risk structure. Clearing members sit between the exchange and participating clients and act as an intermediate layer for managing risk.

“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 said.

The exchange does not accept stablecoins as collateral for its crypto perpetual contracts. Lam said stablecoins were excluded because they can lose their peg during periods of market volatility.

SGX’s contracts instead use benchmarks jointly developed with CoinDesk Indices. Mohit Baheti, head of iEdge Indices at SGX Group, said the indices are managed under the European Union Benchmark Regulation.

Regulated perpetual products in the United States have continued expanding since the first Bitcoin contract received approval. Kalshi introduced Ether perpetuals shortly after its Bitcoin rollout and later expanded its lineup to include Solana perpetual futures, while several other crypto contracts went through regulatory review.

SGX plans to move beyond perpetuals by developing dated Bitcoin and Ether futures and options.

“The next step in our pipeline is launching dated futures and options for Bitcoin and Ethereum,” Lam said.

Building the infrastructure needed for those products represents the main technical work, according to Lam. Once that system is operating, SGX expects the process of adding other major cryptocurrencies to become more similar to introducing another futures contract.

“We plan to broaden our offerings but we are taking a disciplined, step-by-step approach,” Lam said.