The CFTC authorizes for the first time leveraged crypto spot trading on regulated platforms in the United States, with Bitnomial as the first exchange to open these markets.
Bitnomial inaugurates a new regime: crypto spot within a DCM framework
Bitnomial, based in Chicago and registered as a Designated Contract Market (DCM), becomes the first platform authorized to offer leveraged crypto spot under a regulatory framework identical to that of U.S. futures, options, and perpetuals.
According to Caroline Pham, interim chair of the CFTC, this is a historic step and a direct response to recurring issues on offshore platforms. The goal is clear: provide American investors with a domestic, regulated, and transparent alternative, with the same protections as in traditional derivative markets.
A leveraged spot market… Wall Street version
The launch of Bitnomial is set to transform how American traders access the spot market. Until now, the bulk of global volume was on unregulated platforms, often located outside the U.S. In the DCM framework:
• no preferential routing
• no informational advantage
• equal treatment between retail and institutional clients
• strict transparency on margin and leverage rules
Bitnomial presents this new product range as the regulated equivalent of ‘US perpetuals’, previously non-existent in the American legal landscape.
The CFTC accelerates its ‘crypto sprint’
This launch is just the first step in a much broader plan. With the impetus from the White House and the President’s Working Group, the CFTC is advancing on several major fronts:
• allowing the use of stablecoins as tokenized collateral by 2026
• integrating blockchain into a wide range of CFTC regulations
• defining standards for a fully supervised crypto market
Caroline Pham, a key figure in this acceleration, is expected to leave the agency once her successor is confirmed by the Senate. Mike Selig, appointed by Donald Trump, is rumored to take over and steer the future of federal crypto policy alone.
An advancement that still does not fill the regulatory gap on spot
The paradox remains: the CFTC can authorize leveraged spot on DCMs, but still does not have full authority over market manipulation in crypto spot. Until Congress adopts comprehensive legislation on digital markets, most spot trading will remain outside the federal scope, except for fraud cases.
But with this opening, a new chapter is being written. The U.S. is moving towards a regulated, domestic, and competitive crypto infrastructure. And Bitnomial becomes the first visible piece of a made in America leveraged spot market.
