US futures regulator approves application from Crypto.com

CFTC awarded on Friday the license to the local affiliate of the global crypto exchange, Crypto.com Derivatives North America (CDNA), which had its existing authorisation upgraded to a derivatives clearing organisation (DCO) license. Until now, the business has been offering fully collateralised derivatives through its prediction markets.

“The full stack of CFTC-approved derivatives licenses allows Crypto.com to seamlessly provide clients with the most comprehensive and integrated derivatives experience, alongside Crypto.com’s additional product offerings including spot markets, prediction markets, stocks, qualified custody, credit and debit cards, and more,” said Kris Marszalek, co-founder and CEO of Crypto.com.

“With our amended order we will be able to deliver cleared margined derivatives, including crypto perpetuals, to our customers in order to do our part to make the United States 'the crypto capital of the world.' Today’s approvals are proof that acting chairman Pham is delivering in real-time on President Donald J. Trump’s pledge,” said Steve Humenik, head of Clearing for CDNA.

The crypto exchange said that its US unit began discussions with the CFTC in 2023 before filing its request to amend its DCO order on June 7.

The licensing is the latest move by US agencies to ease regulations around cryptocurrencies in the world's largest economy.

CFTC acting chairman Caroline D. Pham announced last week the launch of an initiative for the use of tokenised collateral including stablecoins in derivatives markets.

Last month , CFTC launched its first crypto sprint calling for comments on the possible listing of spot crypto asset contracts by a designated contract market.

SEC chairman Paul Atkins launched ‘Project Crypto’ in August urging US policymakers to amend flexibility in the fast-changing US regulatory regime for crypto assets.