Singapore Exchange has cleared the way for US institutional money to trade its bitcoin and ether perpetual futures, winning authorization from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under Regulation 48.10. The ruling lets American hedge funds, asset managers and proprietary trading firms access the contracts directly through SGX clearing members, without registering a new offshore entity or joining the exchange as members.
KC Lam, head of crypto derivatives at SGX Group, said US participants previously could not trade the contracts at all. “Under the Regulation 48.10 ruling, we have obtained CFTC authorization to open our crypto products to US institutional access,” he told CoinDesk. “Previously, US participants couldn’t trade these contracts but now they can.”
Small base, big ambitions
SGX launched the bitcoin and ether perpetuals in November 2025, benchmarked to iEdge CoinDesk Crypto Indices. Volume so far is modest by crypto standards: roughly $5.8 billion in cumulative trading, about 400,000 contracts, through August. That works out to an average of 1,300 contracts and $19 million in notional value per day. Bitcoin accounts for 66 percent of cumulative open interest and 83 percent of average daily volume, with a single-day peak of 11,500 lots worth $145 million.
The contrast with crypto-native venues is stark. Decentralized exchange Hyperliquid runs $80 billion to $100 billion in monthly bitcoin and ether perpetual volume. SGX wants US inflows to close some of that gap, and expects onboarding of American clients to begin within one to two months, with account opening taking two to four weeks. Lam said the FIS backend integration is fully ready, and clearing members will help onboard US clients.
“The US is one of the most active markets for institutional participation in crypto, including futures and exchange-traded funds, making a pivot to the US market a natural choice,” Lam said, according to a summary of his comments carried by Bloomingbit. SGX differentiates itself with fiat collateral and a 35 percent margin structure, it said.
A different margin model
Unlike offshore crypto platforms, SGX runs its perps through traditional futures infrastructure. Positions face margin calls and collateral top-ups rather than automatic liquidation, trading is separated from clearing, and clearing members absorb the intermediary risk buffer. Stablecoins are not accepted as collateral, only fiat.
That design is deliberate. When SGX listed the contracts in November 2025, exchange president Michael Syn described the goal as bringing perpetual flows, which account for more than $187 billion in daily average volume globally, into a regulated, exchange-cleared framework. At the time he noted that most of those flows were priced and settled on platforms outside Asia. The new CFTC ruling extends that logic to American institutions.
The exchange plans to extend the lineup with dated bitcoin and ether futures and options, then expand to other major crypto assets.
Pressure on CME
The authorization creates a new competitive dynamic for CME Group, which has dominated regulated crypto futures in the US with dated contracts. US desks that previously had to choose between CME products and offshore perpetual venues now have a middle path: an exchange-cleared perpetual trade under a foreign regulator that Washington has signed off on. Perpetuals differ from dated futures in that they never expire; holders pay or receive a periodic funding rate that keeps the contract price tethered to spot.
It also fits a broader US shift. The CFTC has been studying compliance paths for offshore-native venues, and prediction market Kalshi has sought approval for perpetual futures on US stocks. SGX is approaching the same product from the traditional-exchange side rather than the crypto-native one, which may make the regulatory conversation easier for risk desks at banks and funds. The pathway matters as much as the product: Regulation 48.10 allows a foreign exchange to serve US customers without registering in the US, provided the CFTC does not object, so the approval took a filing rather than a full registration process.
Timing in a volatile market
The timing lands in a turbulent stretch for crypto. Bitcoin traded near $77,800 on Monday, up about 1 percent over 24 hours, while ether held around $2,500. Both rose even as technology stocks fell after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for slower AI development, a view OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Elon Musk backed. Brent crude climbed above $107 a barrel, and the 10-year Treasury yield sat just under 5 percent.
Two policy events this week could set the direction. The Federal Reserve decides on rates on September 15, with futures markets pricing an 87 to 88 percent chance of a quarter-point hike, and the Senate holds a procedural vote on the CLARITY Act at 2:15 p.m. ET the same day. The bill needs 60 votes to advance. Senate Republicans released a final draft over the weekend with ethics language approved by the White House.
ETF flows added another wrinkle. US spot bitcoin ETFs shed $462.7 million last week, ending a three-week inflow streak, while ether ETFs took in $196.9 million, a fourth straight week of gains. Solana and XRP funds also stayed positive, drawing $10.3 million and $18.98 million respectively. Against that backdrop, any new source of institutional demand for crypto derivatives gets a closer look from traders.
For SGX, the bet is that regulated access beats offshore convenience for a specific slice of the market: funds that want perpetual exposure but cannot touch unregulated venues. Compliance teams at US banks and asset managers have largely steered clear of offshore perp platforms, however deep the liquidity runs there. A CFTC-authorized route changes the calculus for those desks, because the trade can clear through familiar futures infrastructure with margin calls instead of automatic liquidations.
Whether that slice is large enough to move the exchange’s volume needle will become clear once the first US desks go live in the coming weeks. SGX has about $19 million of daily notional volume to build on, against a global perpetuals market measured in the tens of billions each day. Even a modest share of US institutional flow would multiply the current figures several times over, and the exchange has already signaled that dated futures and options are next in line.