CFTC lets crypto collateral take center stage in US derivatives market

CFTC Launches New Pilot Program Allowing Bitcoin, Ether, and USDC as Collateral

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has kicked off a new pilot program that lets U.S. derivatives brokers accept Bitcoin, Ether, and USDC as collateral. This marks one of the biggest steps yet toward bringing crypto fully into traditional finance.

CFTC Acting Chair Caroline Pham explained on CNBC that the program is designed to be safe, controlled, and closely monitored.

Under this pilot, CFTC-registered brokers—known as futures commission merchants—can now accept crypto as in-kind collateral for contracts based on the same asset. That means you can use Bitcoin to back a Bitcoin futures contract, or Ether for an Ether contract, and so on.

Pham said, “If you are using a CFTC-registered broker, you can use Bitcoin, Ether, and USDC to collateralize contracts denominated in those same assets.”

To make sure everything stays safe, the program includes extra reporting requirements. Brokers must send weekly updates on positions, asset types, and any operational issues. This gives regulators a clear picture of what’s happening while still allowing the market to experiment and grow.

This pilot is also part of a larger push to bring tokenized real-world assets—such as U.S. Treasuries, stablecoins, and money market funds—into a regulated environment. The CFTC’s Global Markets Advisory Committee, which includes major banks and asset managers, helped shape the program. Their recommendations focused on technology-neutral rules, liquidity safeguards, and strong compliance standards.

Pham also pointed out that the program helps address a major problem seen on offshore crypto exchanges: extreme leverage. Many overseas platforms have no leverage limits, and when markets drop, auto-liquidations can cause sudden, severe losses for customers. She said this is exactly why bringing crypto inside the U.S. regulatory framework matters.

“This is why it’s important to bring crypto within the regulatory perimeter,” Pham explained. “Our futures exchanges have been the gold standard for market integrity.”

Although the pilot is small and limited for now, it gives regulators and market players a chance to see how crypto can safely work as collateral in a transparent, well-supervised system.