Withdrawal of CFTC Staff Advisory No. 18-14 Regarding Virtual Currency Derivative Product Listings

CFTC Letter No. 25-07 Advisories March 27, 2025 Division of Market Oversight U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION Three Lafayette Centre 1155 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC 20581 Telephone: (202) 418-5000 www.cftc.gov Division of Clearing and Risk Re: Withdrawal of CFTC Staff Advisory No. 18-14 with Respect to Virtual Currency Derivative Product Listings The Division of Market Oversight (“DMO”) and the Division of Clearing and Risk (“DCR”) of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) hereby withdraw CFTC Staff Advisory No. 18-14 — Advisory with Respect to Virtual Currency Derivative Product Listings (“Virtual Currency Listing Advisory” or “Advisory”) 1 in its entirety. On May 21, 2018, DMO and DCR issued the Virtual Currency Listing Advisory to “clarify staff’s priorities and expectations in its review of new virtual currency derivatives to be listed on a designated contract market (“DCM”) or swap execution facility (“SEF”), or to be cleared by a derivatives clearing organization (“DCO”). 2 The Advisory reflected “staff’s current thinking” in 2018 “based on experience with virtual currency derivatives products to date.”3 Given additional staff experience in the intervening years, as well as increasing market growth 4 and maturity, DMO and DCR believe the Virtual Currency Listing Advisory is no longer needed. Accordingly, DMO and DCR have determined to withdraw the Advisory, effective immediately. Staff notes that the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”) and Commission regulations establish robust standards and procedures for the listing and clearing of derivative products, including virtual currency and other digital asset derivatives, by a DCM, SEF, or DCO. For the avoidance of doubt, these standards and procedures remain in effect. 5 The Commission’s Large Trader 1 CFTC Staff Advisory 18-14, Advisory with Respect to Virtual Currency Derivative Product Listings (May 21,
2018) available at https://www.cftc.gov/csl/18-14/download.
2 See Virtual Currency Listing Advisory at 1.
3
Id.
4 For example, since 2018, average daily volumes in aggregate across all Bitcoin futures have increased over 300 percent, and aggregate open interest has increased by over 800 percent. 5 For example, a DCM or SEF listing virtual currency or other digital asset derivative contracts must maintain an effective market oversight program designed, among other things, to ensure that listed contracts are not readily susceptible to manipulation and to detect and prevent manipulation, price distortion and disruptions of the delivery or cash-settlement process.