US Regulators Open Door for Stablecoins in Derivatives Markets

TLDR

• CFTC acting chair Caroline Pham announced plans to allow stablecoins and tokenized assets as collateral in derivatives markets
• The initiative is gathering stakeholder feedback until October 20, 2025
• Major crypto companies including Circle, Tether, Ripple, Coinbase and Crypto.com support the move
• The plan builds on the GENIUS Act signed by President Trump in July, which established rules for payment stablecoins
• This initiative has been in development since early 2025 through the CFTC’s Crypto CEO Forum

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is making a major push to integrate digital assets into traditional financial markets by allowing stablecoins and other tokenized assets to be used as collateral in derivatives trading.

CFTC acting chair Caroline Pham announced on Tuesday that the agency is seeking feedback on the initiative until October 20. “The public has spoken: tokenized markets are here, and they are the future. For years I have said that collateral management is the ‘killer app’ for stablecoins in markets,” Pham stated.

The proposal would treat popular stablecoins like USDC and Tether similarly to traditional collateral assets such as cash or US Treasuries in regulated derivatives trading. This represents a key step toward mainstream adoption of digital assets in conventional financial systems.

The move comes after the passage of the GENIUS Act earlier this year, which President Donald Trump signed into law in July. The legislation establishes clear rules for payment stablecoins, though final regulations are still pending before full implementation.

Industry Support

The initiative has garnered strong support from major players in the cryptocurrency industry. Executives from stablecoin issuers Circle Internet Group, Tether, Ripple Labs, and crypto exchanges Coinbase and Crypto.com have all endorsed the CFTC’s plan.

Circle president Heath Tarbert expressed enthusiasm for the development, stating that the GENIUS Act “creates a world where payment stablecoins issued by licensed American companies can be used as collateral in derivatives and other traditional financial markets.”

Tarbert further emphasized that “using trusted stablecoins like USDC as collateral will lower costs, reduce risk, and unlock liquidity across global markets 24/7/365.”

Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal also backed the initiative. In an X post on Tuesday, Grewal stated that “tokenized collateral and stablecoins can unlock US derivatives markets and put us ahead of global competition.”

Jack McDonald, senior vice president of stablecoins at Ripple, characterized the CFTC’s plan as a key step toward integrating stablecoins into the “heart of regulated financial markets.” He highlighted the potential for “greater efficiency and transparency in derivatives markets.”

Regulatory Development Timeline

The tokenized asset initiative builds on previous CFTC efforts and is part of the agency’s broader crypto sprint to implement recommendations from the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets.

The groundwork for this initiative began in early 2025 through the CFTC’s Crypto CEO Forum, which invited industry executives to provide input on an upcoming digital asset pilot program and discuss the use of tokenized non-cash collateral.

Last year, the CFTC’s Global Markets Advisory Committee released a recommendation from its Digital Asset Markets Subcommittee on expanding the use of non-cash collateral through distributed ledger technology.

Pham’s announcement coincided with developments at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where Chair Paul Atkins revealed the agency is working on an innovation exemption. This regulatory carve-out would give crypto companies temporary relief from older securities rules while the SEC develops tailored regulations.

The SEC also launched Project Crypto in July, which aims to modernize securities rules around cryptocurrency and facilitate the movement of America’s financial markets to blockchain technology.

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