CF Benchmarks, the leading cryptocurrency index provider and owner of the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate, today announced it has received authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a Benchmark Administrator under European Benchmarks Regulation (EU BMR). CF Benchmarks is the first cryptocurrency index provider to be regulated by the FCA.

The FCA authorisation will allow regulated financial services firms to use CF Benchmarks’ indices in financial products originated, marketed or traded in Europe once EU BMR comes into full effect on January 1, 2020. The BMR affects banks, brokerages, exchanges, asset managers and issuers of financial products that operate in Europe.

Sui Chung, CEO of CF Benchmarks, said: “We are proud to be the first regulated cryptocurrency index provider to meet the EU BMR’s stringent requirements. The industry can now gain access to regulated, high integrity benchmarks, which will spur innovation, furthering the adoption of digital assets in Europe and beyond. Reliable and trusted benchmarks are critical to growing the cryptocurrency ecosystem as they attract more individual and institutional investors to the asset class.”

CF Benchmarks’ FCA authorisation enables service providers to create regulated financial products referencing the firm’s cryptocurrency indices, in compliance with BMR. This includes issuing, trading and investing in products referencing indices; and using indices to define the asset allocation of a portfolio, measure fund performance and determine borrowing rates and contract settlement mechanisms.

CF Benchmarks administers and calculates the CME CF Cryptocurrency Pricing Products and the CF Cryptocurrency Index Family. CF Benchmarks applies proven indexing techniques and methodologies to products unique to the cryptocurrency asset class. This method produces a robust framework with anti-manipulation safeguards to ensure the quality, integrity and reliability of its indices. To learn more about how professional investors use the CF Benchmarks indices to manage cryptocurrency assets, please visit www.cfbenchmarks.com.