The Singapore Exchange has secured CFTC authorization to open its Bitcoin and Ether perpetual futures to eligible US institutional investors under Regulation 48.10. According to reports from BlockBeats, SGX recently secured this approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, enabling the exchange to provide Bitcoin and Ether perpetual futures trading to US institutional investors. The approval allows SGX to 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. As Lam explained, this move connects traditional U.S. financial trading institutions with Asian liquidity pools and marks a deeper integration of crypto derivatives into the regulated traditional financial system.
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. As reported by BlockBeats, 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. Average daily volume across both contracts reached 1,300 lots, or $19 million, as of August. Of this trading activity, Bitcoin accounted for 66% of cumulative open interest and 83% of average daily trading volume.
US clients will access the contracts through clearing members, with onboarding typically taking two to four weeks. According to BlockBeats reports, Lam described the process as involving know-your-customer checks, fund account establishment, and API connection setup. 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. The exchange expects to begin serving U.S. clients within the next 1 to 2 months and plans to launch dated Bitcoin and Ether futures and options as its next step in product development, with gradual expansion to other major crypto assets.
SGX's contracts use margin calls instead of automatic liquidation systems commonly used by crypto exchanges. As reported by BlockBeats, Lam explained that unlike crypto-native venues where sudden volatility can trigger auto-liquidations, their traditional risk framework uses margin calls and top-up collateral to prevent involuntary position closures during market spikes. The exchange separates trading and clearing functions, with clearing members acting as an intermediate risk buffer similar to traditional futures markets. SGX does not accept stablecoins as collateral for its crypto perpetual contracts, instead using benchmarks jointly developed with CoinDesk Indices under European Union Benchmark Regulation.
