Cryptocurrency trading to begin on US derivatives exchanges

US authorities want to allow cryptocurrency trading on all registered exchanges where futures are offered.

Following recommendations from President Donald Trump’s Digital Asset Task Force, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has proposed a move to allow the listing of contracts to buy virtual currencies at a price fixed on the spot market. These derivatives would effectively allow traders to trade tokens and coins.

The CFTC is moving quickly to launch digital asset trading at the federal level and coordinate it with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s cryptocurrency project. There is a clear and simple solution that the CFTC can implement right now, CFTC Commissioner Caroline Pham said.

Caroline Pham

The reason the CFTC chose the clever scheme of using cryptocurrency purchase contracts is that the agency is authorized to regulate derivatives, and digital assets are classified as commodities or securities. Accordingly, the contracts proposed by officials, similar to regular futures, will give the commission the opportunity to monitor their trading on exchanges.

The task force made 18 recommendations to the CFTC, including requests to more clearly describe the properties of cryptocurrencies that are considered commodities, create a set of rules for digital asset companies, and change financial instrument regulations to cover derivatives issued on the blockchain.

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