The Singapore Exchange (SGX) has opened its bitcoin and ether perpetual futures to U.S. institutional investors after receiving authorization from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
The approval was issued under Regulation 48.10, allowing eligible U.S. institutions to access SGX’s existing crypto derivatives market. KC Lam, head of crypto derivatives at SGX Group, said the move creates a connection between U.S. trading desks and Asian liquidity pools.
Under Regulation 48.10, a CFTC-recognized Foreign Board of Trade (FBOT) can provide U.S. participants with direct access to its overseas trading system without having to register separately as a fully regulated U.S. exchange.
As a result, qualifying foreign exchanges can make their existing order books available to U.S. institutional traders while operating under CFTC oversight. They do not need to create a separate U.S.-listed market for those contracts.
Lam described the approval as a major milestone for SGX and said it helps connect traditional U.S. financial market participants trading crypto futures with Asian liquidity while strengthening the position of crypto derivatives as a regulated asset class.
SGX Crypto Volumes Reach $5.8 Billion
SGX launched its bitcoin perpetual futures, BTP, and ether perpetual futures, ETP, in late November 2025. Since their introduction, the contracts have generated about $5.8 billion in cumulative trading volume, equivalent to roughly 400,000 lots.
Combined open interest stood at around 1.3k lots, or approximately $19 million, at the end of August. Bitcoin represented 66% of that open interest and contributed 83% of average daily volume since the products were introduced.
The exchange recorded its highest daily volume at 11.5k lots, corresponding to about $145 million in notional value.
While bitcoin and the broader crypto market rallied in August, Lam said the arrival of new clients is primarily governed by the onboarding process rather than short-term market moves.
Clients must complete KYC procedures, fund their accounts and establish API connections through clearing members. According to Lam, the process normally takes between two and four weeks regardless of where a client is based.
SGX has now completed its FIS-enabled back-office integration and is preparing U.S. clearing members to begin onboarding customers over the coming one to two months.
Different Risk Controls From Crypto-Native Exchanges
SGX’s perpetual futures are being used for both directional and arbitrage-oriented strategies. Traders can use the contracts to position for macroeconomic developments affecting bitcoin and ether, including concerns over currency debasement. Others employ cash-and-carry strategies that seek to benefit from differences in prices and funding rates across venues.
The contracts have no expiration date, giving them a structure similar to crypto-native perpetual futures. However, SGX uses a different approach to managing leveraged positions.
Rather than automatically liquidating traders when their margin falls below requirements, the exchange relies on margin calls and requests for additional collateral.
Forced liquidations can become particularly damaging during sharp market swings. When traders cannot provide enough collateral, their positions may be closed, potentially triggering a chain reaction of additional liquidations. The market turmoil last October was made worse by auto-deleveraging, which can spread losses between winning and losing positions.
Lam said SGX’s traditional risk-management framework is designed to reduce involuntary closures during periods of extreme volatility by giving traders the opportunity to meet margin requirements through additional collateral.
SGX also separates its trading and clearing functions. Its clearing members serve as an intermediate risk buffer, following a structure commonly used in traditional futures and commodities markets.
Stablecoins are not eligible as collateral because they may lose their peg during periods of severe market volatility, Lam said.
The contracts are linked to benchmark indices developed jointly with CoinDesk Indices. Mohit Baheti, head of iEdge Indices at SGX Group, said the benchmarks are administered under the European Union’s Benchmark Regulation.
Dated Futures and Options Next
SGX plans to expand its crypto derivatives business beyond perpetual contracts, with dated bitcoin and ether futures and options next in its pipeline.
Lam said developing the infrastructure needed for those products will be the biggest undertaking. Once that foundation is established, introducing contracts for additional major cryptocurrencies should become considerably easier.
The exchange plans to broaden its crypto offerings gradually, following a disciplined, step-by-step strategy as institutional participation grows.
