SGX Opens Bitcoin and Ether Perpetual Futures to U.S. Institutions

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) has received authorization from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to make its bitcoin and ether perpetual futures available to U.S. institutional investors, connecting American trading firms with liquidity in Asian markets.

KC Lam, head of crypto derivatives at SGX Group, told CoinDesk that the approval was granted under Regulation 48.10, allowing U.S. institutions to access SGX’s crypto contracts. Previously, U.S. participants were unable to trade the products.

Regulation 48.10 provides a framework for a registered Foreign Board of Trade (FBOT), meaning an overseas exchange recognized by the CFTC, to give U.S. participants direct access to its trading platform without having to register separately as a fully regulated U.S. exchange.

The arrangement allows eligible foreign exchanges to make their existing order books accessible to U.S. institutional traders while remaining under CFTC oversight, avoiding the need for a separate U.S. listing.

Lam described the approval as a significant milestone, saying it connects traditional U.S. financial institutions trading crypto futures with Asian liquidity pools while further establishing crypto derivatives as a regulated asset class.

SGX launched its bitcoin perpetual futures (BTP) and ether perpetual futures (ETP) in late November 2025. Since then, the two contracts have generated approximately $5.8 billion in cumulative trading volume, equivalent to around 400,000 lots.

As of the end of August, combined open interest stood at about 1.3k lots, or $19 million. Bitcoin represented 66% of open interest and 83% of average daily trading volume since the products launched. The strongest single-day trading volume reached 11.5k lots, representing $145 million in notional value.

When asked whether activity increased following bitcoin’s August rally and the broader crypto market recovery, Lam said client onboarding schedules were the main factor determining the pace of new participation.

New customers must work through clearing members to complete KYC procedures, make deposits and establish API connectivity. The process generally takes between two and four weeks, regardless of the client’s jurisdiction.

“With our FIS-enabled back-office integration now fully in place, we are actively preparing our U.S. clearing members to onboard clients over the next month or two,” Lam said.

SGX’s perpetual contracts are being used for both macro-focused directional trading and arbitrage strategies. Traders can take positions based on their outlook for bitcoin and ether in response to themes such as currency debasement. Others use the contracts for cash-and-carry strategies that seek to capture differences in funding rates and prices between trading venues.

SGX takes a different approach to liquidations

Although SGX’s contracts have no expiry, similar to crypto-native perpetual futures, their risk-management structure differs from that used by many crypto-focused exchanges.

Rather than relying on automatic liquidations, SGX uses margin calls and additional collateral requirements. This is intended to give traders an opportunity to meet margin shortfalls instead of having their positions closed automatically during sharp market moves.

Forced liquidations can become particularly disruptive during periods of extreme volatility. When traders cannot provide enough additional collateral, exchanges may close their positions, potentially creating cascading liquidations that intensify market swings. The liquidation episode last October was further amplified by auto-deleveraging, through which exchanges distributed losses across winning and losing positions.

Lam said SGX’s traditional risk framework is designed to reduce this risk by using margin calls and top-up collateral rather than automatic liquidation during sudden price movements.

The exchange also maintains a clear separation between trading and clearing. This contrasts with some crypto-native venues that combine exchange, clearing and market-making functions.

“By routing trades through clearing members who act as an intermediate risk buffer, we mirror the proven infrastructure of traditional futures and commodities markets,” Lam said.

SGX does not accept stablecoins as collateral because, according to Lam, they can lose their peg during periods of significant market volatility.

The bitcoin and ether contracts are based on benchmark indices developed jointly with CoinDesk Indices. The benchmarks are administered under the European Union’s Benchmark Regulation, according to Mohit Baheti, head of iEdge Indices at SGX Group.

SGX plans futures and options expansion

SGX intends to broaden its cryptocurrency derivatives lineup, with dated bitcoin and ether futures and options next on its roadmap.

Lam said the exchange’s immediate priority is building the infrastructure required for those products. Once that framework is established, adding contracts tied to other major cryptocurrencies could become relatively straightforward.

SGX plans to expand its crypto offering gradually, taking what Lam described as a disciplined, step-by-step approach.

About The Author