Significant Regulatory Shift and Launch of Pilot Program in the United States
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) officially announced on Monday (12/8) the launch of a groundbreaking 'Digital Asset Pilot Program', which will allow specific digital assets to be used as collateral in the regulated U.S. derivatives market.
This program is led by CFTC Acting Chair Caroline Pham and symbolizes a significant shift in the U.S. regulatory approach to tokenized asset policies. According to the announcement, the first assets approved for inclusion in the pilot include Bitcoin ($BTC), Ethereum ($ETH), and the U.S. dollar stablecoin $USDC. This move aims to integrate digital asset activities into the regulated U.S. market system, reducing reliance on overseas trading platforms while providing investors with a safer trading environment.
Benham emphasized in a statement that the design of this plan is intended to expand the application of digital assets in regulated markets while maintaining strict oversight and customer protection measures. She stated, 'Americans deserve a safe U.S. market as an alternative to offshore platforms. Today, I launched the U.S. digital asset pilot program for tokenized collateral, which establishes clear safeguards to protect customer assets and provides enhanced CFTC monitoring and reporting mechanisms.'
The launch of this policy comes after the U.S. Congress passed the (GENIUS Act), which establishes a federal framework for non-securities digital assets and expands the CFTC's jurisdiction over the spot crypto market and tokenized collateral, providing a solid legal foundation for this pilot program.
This pilot program is not limited to cryptocurrencies but also involves the broad application of tokenized real-world assets (RWA). The CFTC's goal is to enable market participants to clearly understand how to use tokenized collateral, including tokenized versions of U.S. Treasury bonds and other assets.
Strict regulatory safeguards and weekly reporting mechanisms
According to details released by the CFTC, the pilot program currently only applies to futures commission merchants (FCMs) that meet specific criteria.
During the first three months of the pilot program, the range of digital assets permitted as customer margin will be strictly limited to payment stablecoins such as Bitcoin, Ether, and $USDC. This means that registered companies can accept Bitcoin as collateral for leveraged swap transactions linked to commodities, while the CFTC closely monitors the associated operational risks and custody arrangements behind the scenes. To ensure that risks are manageable, participating companies must comply with strict reporting and custody requirements.
Specifically, participating futures commission merchants must submit detailed weekly reports to the CFTC, listing the total amount of digital assets held in customer accounts and breaking them down by asset class and account type. This high-frequency reporting requirement aims to enable regulators to grasp market dynamics in real time and remain highly vigilant about potential operational risks while allowing companies to access tokenized collateral. Additionally, companies must immediately notify regulators of any significant operational or system issues, disruptions, or failures involving the use of digital collateral.
At the same time, the CFTC issued a 'No-Action' letter, granting futures commission merchants limited permission when accepting non-securities digital assets as margin. This exemption allows companies to include qualified digital assets in customer accounts while clarifying how capital and segregation rules apply to the new system.
The CFTC emphasizes that these frequent reporting and notification requirements are designed to give staff the opportunity to assess whether futures commission merchants have appropriately applied relevant regulatory requirements, thus ensuring that while promoting responsible financial innovation, market stability and the safety of customer assets are not compromised.
Revocation of old regulations and establishment of technological neutrality principles
To clear obstacles for the new system, the CFTC officially withdrew Staff Advisory No. 20-34. This advisory opinion, implemented in 2020, severely restricted the ability of futures commission merchants to accept virtual currencies as customer collateral and has long been viewed as a major bottleneck hindering the application of digital assets in the derivatives market.
The CFTC clearly stated that with the development of the digital market and the enactment of the (GENIUS Act), this old advisory opinion is outdated and no longer applicable. The removal of the old regulations is seen as a significant step in regulatory modernization, eliminating past regulatory uncertainties that hindered digital assets from being used as qualified collateral.
In addition to revoking old regulations, the market participants division, market oversight division, and clearing and risk division of the CFTC jointly issued formal guidelines on how to assess tokenized assets within the existing regulatory framework.
The guide reiterates that the CFTC's rules are 'technologically neutral', emphasizing that tokenized assets should be assessed individually based on existing policies, rather than being viewed as a separate asset class. This means that whether it is cryptocurrency or tokenized U.S. Treasury bonds or money market funds, as long as they meet standards such as legal enforceability, custody, and control, they have the opportunity to be included as formal collateral.
This series of initiatives resonates with the CFTC's other recent actions. Just last week, the CFTC allowed federally regulated exchanges to conduct spot cryptocurrency trading for the first time, with Bitnomial expected to launch related services under CFTC oversight.
Chairman Benham stated that CFTC-registered trading venues will list spot crypto products, enabling retail and institutional traders to access spot, futures, options, and perpetual contracts on a single regulated platform.
Industry leaders praise the improvements in market efficiency
The cryptocurrency and fintech industries warmly welcomed the CFTC's decision, generally believing that these changes provide the long-awaited regulatory certainty. Coinbase's Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal expressed agreement, stating that this move confirms the industry's long-held belief that stablecoins and digital assets can reduce risks and increase the efficiency of financial markets.
He bluntly stated that the old advisory opinion from 2020 was 'a specific ceiling on innovation', relying on outdated information and exceeding regulatory scope, and that the current changes are precisely the unlock that the government and Congress aimed to achieve through the (GENIUS Act).
Heath Tarbert, President of Circle, also expressed support, stating that these changes will effectively reduce settlement risks and friction in derivative trading by achieving near-instant margin settlements.
He emphasized that expanding the functionality of regulated stablecoins across the entire CFTC-regulated market will not only protect customers but also support 24/7 risk management and promote the dollar's leadership through global regulatory interoperability. This is particularly important for institutional investors, as it means that the efficiency of fund utilization will significantly improve, no longer limited by traditional banking hours and settlement delays.
Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com, stated that this announcement will allow tokenized collateral to be used on a large scale in the U.S. market for the first time and will support 24-hour trading of regulated derivative products.
Industry consensus views this pilot program as a key bridge connecting traditional finance (TradFi) with the crypto market. As the pilot program progresses, the market expects more futures commission merchants to participate, further promoting the adoption and application of digital assets within the mainstream financial system and setting new standards for future financial market infrastructure.
'The CFTC launches a digital asset pilot program, allowing cryptocurrencies to be used as compliant collateral for the first time.' This article was first published in 'Crypto City'
