By Jeff Benson
2 min read
While several traditional exchanges this week announced moves into the cryptocurrency space, one crypto platform is moving the opposite direction, into more traditional financial products.
LedgerX, an exchange for Bitcoin-based derivatives, has received approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to "clear...fully collateralized futures, options on futures, and swaps."
The Delaware-based LLC had asked the CFTC in January for approval to move beyond digital currency products.
LedgerX describes itself as "the first federally regulated exchange and clearing house to list and clear fully-collateralized, physically-settled bitcoin swaps and options for the institutional market."
A clearing house is the part of an exchange that acts as an intermediary between buyers and sellers to help finalize trades. It makes sure buyers and sellers each fulfill their obligations, akin to how homebuyers and home sellers put money and house titles into an escrow account.
With its amended registration, LedgerX can now capitalize on a trillion-dollar market for derivative products.
After receiving regulatory approval from the CFTC, LedgerX launched its exchange in 2017. It reported executing over $1 billion in crypto swaps and trades in just its first week.
At the time, Bloomberg saw it as a sign that cryptocurrency was moving "closer to official acceptance." Today's announcement makes clear that the players in traditional finance and digital assets are increasingly one and the same.
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