• Cboe Digital to become first U.S. regulated crypto native exchange and clearinghouse to enable both spot and leveraged derivatives trading on a single platform
• 11 leading firms across crypto and traditional finance committed to supporting launch on Day 1

Cboe Digital  announced plans to launch trading and clearing in margin futures on Bitcoin and Ether, beginning January 11, 2024.  With this launch, Cboe Digital will become the first U.S. regulated crypto native combined exchange and clearinghouse to enable both spot and leveraged derivatives trading on a single platform. Committed to bringing trust, transparency and responsible innovation to the crypto spot and derivatives markets, Cboe Digital presents an intermediary-inclusive model, ensures separation of duties to avoid conflicts of interest, and uses an integrated exchange-clearinghouse model that will allow it to potentially bring more unique and groundbreaking offerings in 2024.

Cboe Digital will initially offer financially settled margined contracts on Bitcoin and Ether and plans to expand its product suite to include physically delivered products at a later date, subject to regulatory approvals. The margin model is designed to allow customers to trade futures without posting the full collateral up front, thereby providing greater capital efficiency compared to trading futures on a non-margined basis. Significantly, Cboe Digital’s unified spot and derivatives trading platform will also help enable customers to easily access both markets, creating opportunities for additional capital and operational efficiencies.

Cboe Digital’s planned launch of margin futures will be supported by leading firms across the cryptocurrency and traditional financial marketplace, including B2C2, BlockFills, CQG, Cumberland DRW, Jump Trading Group, Marex, StoneX Financial, Talos, tastytrade, Trading Technologies and Wedbush.

“Our upcoming launch of margin futures represents a significant milestone for Cboe Digital, and we are grateful to have the support of such a remarkable group of industry partners who share our commitment to building trusted and transparent crypto markets,” said John Palmer, President of Cboe Digital.  “Futures have long served as valuable hedging instruments in the traditional financial markets, and we couldn’t be more excited to extend access to this tool further into the digital assets markets and offer margined trading for our customers. We believe derivatives will foster additional liquidity and hedging opportunities in crypto and represent the next critical step in this market’s continued growth.”

“As a leading liquidity provider delivering deep and reliable pricing across market conditions, B2C2 supports efforts to enhance institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies,” said Nicola White, CEO of B2C2.  “We are pleased to be working with high-quality exchanges such as Cboe Digital whose focus is on transparent markets and superior risk management resources.”

“Cboe Digital’s offer in providing secure access to regulated futures markets is key to maturing this nascent asset class and enabling broader institutional participation,” said Chris Zuehlke, Global Head of Cumberland DRW. “We are pleased to support and provide liquidity to Cboe’s markets.”

“We’ve been trading on Cboe markets for many years, and we welcome their new initiative.  There is customer demand for these products, and Marex is keen to support its customers from the outset,” said Thomas Texier, Head of Clearing at Marex. “Cboe Digital’s margin futures launch will help bring competitive technology and innovative solutions to regulated markets.”

“Cboe Digital has been at the forefront of cryptocurrency innovation since its inception and is a trusted platform in the growing space,” said Vincent Angelico, Head of Clearing and Execution Services at StoneX Financial.  “We look forward to working with Cboe Digital and building a secure and transparent marketplace for crypto spot and derivatives trading.”

“At tastytrade, we believe regulated derivatives play a valuable role for investors navigating any market, and who better to bring leveraged crypto derivatives to the forefront than Cboe Digital,” said JJ Kinahan, CEO of IG North America and President of tastytrade. “With their innovative products, well-governed markets and secure access, we look forward to working with Cboe Digital.”

“Cboe Digital has been instrumental in helping facilitate the creation of a transparent well-regulated crypto spot and derivatives market,” said Bob Fitzsimmons at Wedbush Securities.  “We congratulate Cboe Digital on this exciting target and look forward to continued collaboration in this market.”

Cboe Digital’s planned launch of margin Bitcoin and Ether futures will complement its existing offering of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ether, Litecoin and USDC trading on its spot crypto market.  Contract margin requirements for the new futures will be published on Cboe Digital’s website daily, along with standardized portfolio analysis of risk (SPAN®) compatible risk parameter files that can be used to replicate margin calculations.

Source: Cboe Digital