FTX.US Says Crypto Derivatives Launch Within a Year
Last updated on December 4th, 2022 at 10:36 pm
FTX.US has announced plans to launch offerings for crypto futures within a year. Currently, the exchange only offers crypto spot trading to U.S. clients in abidance to the country’s regulatory framework.
FTX.US is the U.S. subsidiary of FTX, the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world after Binance.
FTX offers crypto derivatives outside the U.S. market, which makes up a huge portion of the firm’s revenues. According to Business Insider, the firm’s president, Brett Harrison, now plans to give U.S. clients more crypto offerings.
“We definitely hope to be able to offer them inside of a year. Quite frankly, we could have or should have started a long time ago, but we’re definitely interested in going through the process and collaborating with the CFTC to be able to offer those products in the U.S.,” he stated.
Harrison also provided a detailed explanation of two ways the firm could get the necessary licenses.
One of these ways was by applying for a license with the CFTC, while the second was acquiring a firm that deals in crypto derivatives. The firm’s president stated that they actively evaluated both options but failed to hint at any possible acquisition.
“We fully intend to go through in one form or another so that we could eventually become a licensed derivatives exchange,” he stated. “The ability to trade crypto derivatives on an exchange like FTX.US is an enormous source of potential for us as a business.”
Harrison remains optimistic that the process to launch crypto derivatives will be successful. The firm’s president pointed to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and micro bitcoin futures as two firms that trade BTC futures.
U.S. Market Has Potential for Growth
The plan of FTX looking for more areas to generate revenues was hinted at last month by Sam Bankman-Fried, the FTX founder. The billionaire stated that the U.S. crypto market had a huge potential for growth and hence many opportunities that crypto firms could leverage.
The FTX Exchange expanding into the U.S. market makes sense. Bankman-Fried made headlines during the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election when he became one of the largest donors for the Biden campaign.
The cryptocurrency exchange was founded in 2020, with the U.S. affiliate launching by offering spot trading for popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Tether, Litecoin and Paxos Gold Token.
Since its launch, the exchange has grown tremendously to become one of the largest global platforms. The firm’s recent valuation stands at $18 Billion after receiving an additional $900 Million through a funding round.
After the funding round, Harrison stated that most of the funds would be used to foster the exchange’s expansion and acquisition plans. The funding round was the largest in the cryptocurrency sector.
The company has been active in boosting its popularity in the U.S. market following recent sports sponsorships. The firm also recently appointed celebrities Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen and Kevin O’Leary as brand ambassadors.
The firm’s strategies to boost its presence in the U.S. is to boost retail trading. This is contrary to what Coinbase is doing to attract institutional investors. Harrison noted that institutional investors accounted for around 70% of the firm’s trading volumes, and he was looking for ways to boost the retail base.
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