Chicago fintech Bitnomial moves to become the first CFTC-licensed exchange to offer federally-regulated spot crypto trading in the United States.
Chicago-based fintech firm Bitnomial could soon become the first Designated Contract Market (DCM)-licensed cryptocurrency exchange to offer spot crypto trading in the US.
The company submitted a self-certification declaration and filing to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) under regulation 40.6(a), a law that allows DCMs to offer spot products as long as they meet certain requirements.
According to the filing, Bitnomial is updating certain company rules to integrate spot trading. The new rules won’t affect the firm’s compliance with DCM standards, per the document, and went into effect as of Nov. 28.
Federally-regulated Spot Cryptocurrency Trading by December?
Numerous exchanges, such as Coinbase and Kraken, offer spot crypto trading in the US, but they’re all regulated via state authority. While other DCMs, such as Cboe, offer spot trading, that part of the exchange’s trading is served via state license. Bitnomial would be the first DCM to serve spot crypto trading under its federal mandate.
And, by all appearances, Bitnomial’s filing has already been approved. It submitted its filing with a date of November 13. According to regulation 40.6(a), the CFTC had a 10-day window to reject the firm’s “self-certification” form.
The “40.6(a) Self-certification of rules” were last amended in Sept. after the CFTC announced its “Crypto Sprint” program. According to a statement from acting CFTC chairman Caroline Pham, the program’s purpose is to accelerate President Donald Trump’s “vision to make America the crypto capital of the world.”
Per the regulation, the new company rules are deemed certified “unless the Commission notifies the registered entity during the 10-business day review period that it intends to issue a stay of the certification under paragraph (c) of this section.”
Coinspeaker reached out to Bitnomial for confirmation but did not receive an immediate response. The CFTC has not issued a public comment concerning the filing as of the time of this article’s publication.
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