Singapore Exchange SGX has received approval from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) under Rule 48.10. This allows U.S. institutional investors to trade SGX perpetual futures on Bitcoin and Ether. Previously, U.S. participants were unable to trade these contracts.
Rule 48.10 is a framework under which the CFTC permits a registered foreign board of trade (FBOT) to provide U.S. participants with direct access to its trading system without a separate registration as a fully regulated U.S. exchange.
"Under Rule 48.10, we have received CFTC approval to provide U.S. institutional investors with access to our crypto products," K.S. Lam, Head of Crypto Derivatives at SGX Group, told CoinDesk. He described the development as "an important milestone," adding that it "connects U.S. TradFi participants trading crypto futures with Asian liquidity pools" and "legitimizes crypto derivatives as a regulated asset class."
Since launching in late November 2025, trading volume in SGX perpetual futures on Bitcoin (BTP) and Ether (ETP) has reached $5.8 billion, or approximately 400,000 lots. Open interest across both contracts stood at 1,300 lots ($19 million) at the end of August, with Bitcoin accounting for 66% of open interest and 83% of average daily volume since launch. Peak daily volume reached 11,500 lots, or $145 million in notional value.
Lam pointed to new user onboarding timelines as a natural pacing factor. New clients go through KYC, deposit funding, and API connectivity via clearing intermediaries — a process that typically takes two to four weeks regardless of jurisdiction. "With our back-office fully integrated with the FIS system, we are actively preparing U.S. clearing partners to onboard clients over the next one to two months," he said.