The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is ushering in a new form of federally regulated crypto trading, having encouraged its regulated platforms to open leveraged spot digital asset products, starting today with Bitnomial.
The Bitnomial exchange is regulated by the US derivatives watchdog as a designated contracts market (DCM), meaning this new activity will launch in a fully regulated space, following strong encouragement from the federal agency, including direct meetings with Acting President Caroline Pham to assist in the process when the federal government was shut down for an extended period.
“Recent developments in offshore exchanges have shown us how essential it is for Americans to have more choice and access to safe and regulated US markets,” Pham said in a statement. “Now, for the first time, spot cryptocurrencies can be traded on CFTC-registered exchanges that have been the gold standard for nearly a hundred years, with the customer protection and market integrity that Americans deserve.”
The move, which Pham called a “historic milestone,” follows recommendations from the President’s Task Force on Digital Asset Markets, which had issued a report this year laying out a crypto agenda for US regulators. Pham said the CFTC is “finally using our decades-old authority” to initiate this trade.
Details regarding the commercial launch have yet to emerge from Chicago-based Bitnomial. It is one of several DCMs regulated at the CFTC, which also includes Coinbase, Kalshi, and Polymarket.
This was one of the first agenda items of the CFTC’s so-called “crypto sprint” to implement the administration’s pro-crypto policy goals. It was among Pham’s priorities as he awaited his permanent replacement as president, which could come soon as the Senate moves forward with the confirmation process for Trump’s nominee, Mike Selig.
Pham has been planning to leave the agency when the new president arrives, leaving that person alone on what should be a five-member commission. The White House has not yet provided other candidates to fill out the leadership, so the next president will take charge of the crypto policy surge alone.
Other initiatives include a push for tokenized collateral that will include stablecoins, expected to happen early next year, and broad rulemaking that inserts blockchain technology into a variety of CFTC regulations.
