CFTC Licenses LedgerX to settle bitcoin futures contracts

On June 24^th Ledger X announced on its website that it has received United States Commodities Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), regulatory approval to offer Bitcoin spot and physically settled derivatives contracts  (including options, futures, and more), to retail clients of any size. These products will trade on a new platform enabled by  Designated Contract Market (“DCM”) license LedgerX Omni.

LedgerX was founded in 2014, and initially obtained approval to act as a Swap Execution Facility (SEF) for institutional crypto trading (typically $10 Million USD in assets or up) in late 2017.

According to LedgerX with the new license , both retail and institutional customers can interact in the same transparent marketplace, LedgerX Omni, the first and only regulated US institution to offer these capabilities to the retail audience.  As LedgerX states, “ We can now provide a robust market for a much broader audience, providing access to individuals who want to get exposure to the fast-growing crypto investment sector via derivatives products that they could not access in the past. In fact, we are the only company to have received both a Swap Execution Facility (“SEF”) and a Derivatives Clearing Organization (“DCO”) registration to enable regulated trading of bitcoin derivatives. By operating both the exchange and clearing house, we can uniquely offer clients a vertically integrated trading and custody solution. If you live in the US or Singapore, have a driver’s license or other form of government ID, you can literally sign up within 90 seconds. We accept both USD and BTC deposits, or some combination of the two, whatever floats your boat.”

Chief operating and risk officer Juthica Chou told CoinDesk that the company was looking to be the first provider of this product in the U.S. “There’s no doubt that we’re looking to be first, we’re looking to be the incumbent,” she said. “We think we’re better positioned and we want to be there to serve customers of all sizes.” LedgerX would follow the same self-certification process that it already underwent to offer swaps and options, Chou added.