U.S. institutional investors can now trade bitcoin and ether perpetual futures on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) after the exchange secured authorization from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
The approval, granted under Regulation 48.10, gives eligible U.S. participants direct access to SGX’s crypto derivatives while connecting American trading desks with liquidity available in Asian markets.
KC Lam, SGX Group’s head of crypto derivatives, said the change marks the first time U.S. participants have been able to trade the exchange’s crypto perpetual contracts.
Regulation 48.10 allows a CFTC-recognized Foreign Board of Trade (FBOT) to provide U.S. participants with access to its existing trading infrastructure without registering separately as a full U.S.-regulated exchange. This enables qualifying overseas platforms to offer their established order books to U.S. institutional traders under CFTC supervision rather than creating separate U.S.-listed products.
Lam described the authorization as an important step for the market, saying it connects traditional U.S. financial participants trading crypto futures with Asian liquidity pools and strengthens the standing of crypto derivatives as a regulated asset class.
$5.8 billion traded since launch
SGX introduced its bitcoin perpetual futures, known as BTP, and ether perpetual futures, or ETP, in late November 2025. The contracts have since accumulated roughly $5.8 billion in trading volume, representing about 400,000 lots.
At the end of August, open interest across the two products was approximately 1.3k lots, worth around $19 million. Bitcoin made up 66% of total open interest and accounted for 83% of average daily volume since launch.
The exchange’s biggest single-day volume reached 11.5k lots, equivalent to approximately $145 million in notional value.
Despite bitcoin’s August rally and broader gains across crypto markets, Lam said the pace of activity from new U.S. customers will largely depend on onboarding timelines. Clients must complete KYC checks, fund their accounts and establish API connectivity through clearing members, a process that generally takes two to four weeks.
SGX said its FIS-enabled back-office integration is now operational, allowing the exchange to prepare U.S. clearing members to bring new clients onto the platform over the next one to two months.
Perpetuals target directional and arbitrage trades
The exchange’s contracts are being used for a range of strategies, from taking macro-driven positions on bitcoin and ether to exploiting pricing and funding differences between trading venues.
Traders can use the perpetuals to express views on broader themes such as currency debasement, while cash-and-carry strategies allow participants to pursue arbitrage opportunities arising from differences in funding rates and prices.
Although SGX’s contracts do not expire, their risk-management system differs from the liquidation mechanisms commonly used by crypto-native exchanges.
Instead of automatically closing positions when volatility causes a margin deficit, SGX relies on margin calls and requests for additional collateral. The approach is intended to reduce involuntary position closures during abrupt market moves.
Liquidation events can spread quickly through leveraged markets when traders are unable to provide additional collateral. Such cascades can magnify an initial price move, while auto-deleveraging can further distribute losses among market participants. The liquidation episode last October was exacerbated by this mechanism.
Lam said SGX’s traditional framework is designed to avoid automatic liquidations during sharp volatility by giving traders the opportunity to meet margin requirements through additional collateral.
The exchange also separates its trading and clearing operations. Unlike some crypto-native platforms that combine exchange, clearing and market-making functions, SGX routes transactions through clearing members that serve as an additional layer of risk management.
Stablecoins are not accepted as collateral because they can lose their dollar peg during periods of extreme market volatility, Lam said.
More crypto derivatives planned
SGX’s bitcoin and ether contracts track benchmark indices developed jointly with CoinDesk Indices. Mohit Baheti, head of iEdge Indices at SGX Group, said the benchmarks are managed under the European Union’s Benchmark Regulation.
The exchange is also preparing to expand beyond perpetual contracts. Its next planned products include dated bitcoin and ether futures as well as options.
Lam said building the infrastructure for those products represents the main challenge. Once that foundation is established, SGX expects adding contracts for other major cryptocurrencies to become easier.
The exchange intends to expand its crypto derivatives business gradually, taking a disciplined approach as it adds new products and broadens institutional access.
