Bitnomial Has New Permission to Trade BTC Derivatives

It’s becoming a little more common for exchanges to have the government’s blessing to trade BTC derivatives.

Bitnomial Exchange is the latest to join this mostly private party, having received a so-called “order of designation” from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), granting it the status of a designated contract market. This means Bitnomial joins names like Bakkt, CME, LegerX, and CBOE — the few companies who are already trading these crypto derivatives.

Bitcoin ETFs continue to be rejected by the SEC, but the CFTC lets some exchanges offer this type of product. It's physically settled in Bitcoin, so the idea is that this will drive demand. The supply of the asset is limited — traders receive BTC when their contracts close, not USD.

Bitnomial is Chicago-based, so American traders can play in public. Derivatives products offered by other crypto exchanges are mostly a no-go unless you're using a VPN.

Even then, it doesn’t always work. But now there’s one more place where traders can place bets on the future price of BTC in full daylight.