Breaking News: CFTC Approves Cboe Clear For Digital Asset Futures!
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently announced the approval of an amended order of registration for Cboe Clear Digital, which allows it to clear additional products as a derivatives clearing organization. The regulatory body stated that it is now permitting Cboe Clear to “provide clearing services for digital asset futures on a margined basis for futures commission merchants, in addition to the fully collateralized futures and fully collateralized swaps previously authorized.” Cboe Digital Exchange, the parent company of Cboe Clear, is already registered as a designated contract market with the CFTC. This measure authorizes Cboe to expand its clearing of futures contracts on crypto assets “while staying within the traditional U.S. futures intermediated market structure,” according to CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero. In a separate statement, Romero noted that: “The Order is accompanied by prudent risk-mitigation measures implemented by Cboe.” She added that the application had stood in “stark contrast” to one from collapsed crypto exchange FTX “for a bespoke disintermediated direct-to-customer market structure.” Romero has been vocal about the benefits of bringing appropriate crypto activities into the regulated space to protect customers, but in a way that supports oversight, accountability, transparency, and risk management. She noted that too often in recent years, crypto