FTX CEO: US crypto derivatives are ‘I’m paying the most attention to right now’

In the same year that he’s spent hundreds of millions bailing out struggling crypto borrowers and had his face plastered on billboards, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried still says LedgerX — now rebranded as FTX US Derivatives — still has most of his attention .

The crypto exchange completed the acquisition of Ledger Holding, the parent company of CFTC-licensed LedgerX, for an undisclosed amount in October 2021. With it, the company gained a platform that could make Bitcoin and Ethereum derivatives available to its US customers.

“I continue to think that it was one of the most important things that we did and that it was super high upside, and that’s probably the one thing that I notice the most right now,” Bankman-Fried said on the latest episode of Decrypthis gm podcast. “I think it’s incredibly important for the future of the ecosystem, and for our company, that we can bring the same level of liquidity and market access to the U.S. that people have had internationally.”

A derivative is a contractual agreement to buy or sell an asset based on future prices. As the US Securities and Exchange Commission continues to grapple with which crypto assets qualify as securities, the CFTC has allowed more companies – crypto-natives and traditional financial interests alike – to offer crypto derivatives to traders.

After the deal was announced last August, Bankman-Fried tweeted that it was “one of the most exciting announcements we’ve ever had.” When he spoke to Decrypt in December he said he remained laser-focused on growing derivatives trading for FTX’s US-based clients. Even now, he said, “it’s been the biggest question from our customers for as long as I can remember.”

FTX began in 2019 as a derivatives exchange before expanding its offerings to include NFTs, credit and debit cards, payment processing and over-the-counter trading. Like its competitor Binance, FTX has had to create a separate company, FTX US, to accommodate its US-based customers.

That has meant that the path to offering more of its broad product suite in the US includes obtaining the necessary licenses. FTX is not the only company seeking CFTC licenses through acquisitions.

In June, Coinbase launched Nano Bitcoin Futures on its Coinbase Derivatives Exchange (formerly known as FairX before Coinbase acquired it). It is a half-step to offering derivatives directly from its own app. Until Coinbase gets its futures commission seller license approved, Coinbase BIT futures will be available on third-party platforms.

Last year, Crypto.com paid $216 million to acquire North American Derivatives Exchange (Nadex) and Small Exchange from IG Group. It was meant to give Singapore-based Crypto.com’s US customers access to derivatives products, but for now the US is still listed on the company’s list of geo-restrictions for derivatives trading.