Key Takeaways
- Americans have had the right to trade on registered offshore platforms since the 1990s under the FBOT registry, she said
- Non-U.S. crypto exchanges can provide services to Americans by registering under the Foreign Board of Trade (FBOT) framework.
In a major development, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission( CFTC), the US market regulator, stated that non-U.S. crypto exchanges can provide services to Americans on their platforms by registering under the Foreign Board of Trade (FBOT) framework.
“Today’s FBOT advisory provides the regulatory clarity needed to legally onshore trading activity that was driven out of the United States due to the unprecedented regulation and enforcement approach of the past several years,” CFTC Director Caroline PhamPham said in a statement.
“By reaffirming the CFTC’s longstanding approach to provide U.S. traders with choice and access to the deepest and most liquid global markets, with a wide range of products and asset classes, American companies that were forced to set up shop in foreign jurisdictions to facilitate crypto asset trading now have a path back to U.S. markets.”
Noting that US-based clients have been able to trade on CFTC-registered foreign exchanges since the 1990s using the FBOT framework, Pham dubbed it “the simplest and fastest solution.”
“Starting now, the CFTC welcomes back Americans who want to trade efficiently and safely under CFTC regulations, and opens up US markets to the rest of the world,” the director noted.
“It’s just another example of how the CFTC will continue to deliver wins for President Trump as part of our crypto sprint,” Pham underlined.
The move comes against the backdrop of the regulator looking for public input from crypto market participants on how to regulate the sector effectively, as part of its second “crypto sprint” initiative to advance the White House’s crypto agenda.
The President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets had made two key recommendations to the agency.
The Group had asked the CFTC to provide clear guidance on how crypto assets could be considered commodities and how decentralised finance firms (DeFi) can comply with registration requirements. It further enquired about which crypto activities CFTC-regulated entities can engage in.
The regulator’s first “crypto sprint” statement said it would work closely with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to use “their existing authorities to provide fulsome regulatory clarity.”
