The Singapore Exchange (SGX) has secured CFTC authorization under Regulation 48.10 to offer its bitcoin and ether perpetual futures to U.S. institutional investors. Since its November 2025 launch, the product has generated $5.8 billion in cumulative volume. SGX plans to onboard U.S. clients within two months using a traditional risk framework that rejects auto-liquidations and stablecoin collateral. This milestone bypasses ongoing domestic litigation between CME Group and the CFTC.
CFTC Regulation 48.10 approval
- ▪The Singapore Exchange obtained CFTC authorization under Regulation 48.10 to offer its bitcoin and ether perpetual futures to U.S. institutional investors.
- ▪Regulation 48.10 allows a registered Foreign Board of Trade to give U.S. participants direct access to its trading system without registering separately as a U.S. exchange.
SGX perpetual futures volume
- ▪The highest single-day trading volume for the Singapore Exchange's crypto perpetual futures reached 11,500 lots, representing $145 million in notional value.
- ▪Since launching in late November 2025, the Singapore Exchange's crypto perpetual futures have recorded $5.8 billion in cumulative traded volume, representing approximately 400,000 lots.
Trading metrics since launch
- ▪At the end of August 2026, open interest across the Singapore Exchange's bitcoin and ether perpetual futures stood at 1,300 lots, valued at approximately $19 million.
- ▪Bitcoin accounted for 66% of open interest and 83% of the daily average volume for the Singapore Exchange's crypto perpetual futures since inception.
No auto-liquidation risk design
- ▪The Singapore Exchange's crypto perpetual futures use margin calls and top-up collateral instead of auto-liquidations to prevent involuntary position closures during market spikes.
- ▪The Singapore Exchange separates trading and clearing by routing trades through clearing members, unlike crypto-native venues that often combine exchange, clearinghouse, and market-maker roles.
- ▪The Singapore Exchange excludes stablecoins as acceptable collateral for its crypto perpetual futures because stablecoins can break their peg during volatile periods.
US institutional onboarding timeline
- ▪The Singapore Exchange expects to begin onboarding U.S. institutional clients over the next one to two months as it prepares its U.S. clearing members.
- ▪Onboarding new clients onto the Singapore Exchange typically takes two to four weeks for KYC checks, deposits, and API connectivity.
CME-Kalshi litigation context
- ▪CME Group argues in its lawsuit against the CFTC that Kalshi's Bitcoin perpetual contracts are swaps under the Dodd-Frank Act rather than futures.
- ▪The CFTC authorization for the Singapore Exchange occurs amid a lawsuit where CME Group is suing the CFTC over its approval of Kalshi's Bitcoin perpetual contracts.
Debatable claims
- ▪Crypto perpetual contracts should be regulated as swaps rather than futures
- ▪Crypto derivatives exchanges should ban stablecoins as collateral
- ▪Regulators should force crypto platforms to separate trading and clearing
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