The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has launched a digital assets pilot program that will allow bitcoin, ether and the stablecoin USDC to be used as collateral in U.S. derivatives markets. Acting Chairman Caroline Pham announced the initiative on December 8 as part of a wider effort to modernize the regulatory perimeter and support tokenization in traditional financial infrastructure.
Pham said the pilot establishes guardrails for customer protection while providing the agency with expanded monitoring and reporting tools. The announcement follows the CFTC’s earlier tokenized collateral initiative and comes amid heightened scrutiny of offshore crypto exchanges.
According to Pham, the goal is to ensure that American traders have access to safer regulated markets. She said the CFTC’s approach will allow digital assets to be integrated into derivatives markets without compromising customer safeguards. The move coincides with last week’s decision enabling spot crypto trading on CFTC-registered exchanges.
Industry leaders widely welcomed the announcement. Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said the action confirms that digital assets can reduce risk and improve payments, adding that Congress intended this regulatory clarity under the GENIUS Act. Circle President Heath Tarbert said the pilot will help reduce settlement frictions and strengthen U.S. dollar leadership, noting the benefits of near real time margin settlement. Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek said the decision delivers regulatory certainty and makes 24/7 trading a reality for U.S. users. Ripple’s Jack McDonald said recognizing tokenized assets as eligible margin will unlock capital efficiency.
Tokenized collateral guidance and FCM no-action relief
Three CFTC divisions issued new guidance describing how tokenized assets can be used as collateral for futures and swaps. The document reaffirms that CFTC regulations are technology-neutral and encourages case-by-case evaluation of tokenized assets under existing rules. The guidance applies to tokenized real-world assets including U.S. Treasuries and money market funds, and covers custody, valuation, haircuts and operational risk.
The Market Participants Division also published a no-action position allowing Futures Commission Merchants to accept non-securities digital assets, including payment stablecoins, as customer margin collateral. During the first three months of the pilot, eligible assets will be limited to bitcoin, ether and USDC. FCMs must provide weekly reporting on holdings and notify the agency of any issues.
The CFTC said these reporting requirements will help staff assess market behaviour without unnecessarily limiting the ability of firms to use digital assets as collateral. The no-action letter also permits FCMs to deposit proprietary stablecoins as residual interest.
The agency simultaneously withdrew Staff Advisory 20-34, which had restricted how FCMs accepted virtual currencies. The CFTC said the advisory is outdated due to technological advances and new statutory requirements introduced by the GENIUS Act.
These measures follow extensive industry feedback, including input from a CFTC Crypto CEO Forum and the Digital Asset Markets Subcommittee of the Global Markets Advisory Committee.