Morning Minute: The CFTC Just Approved U.S. Spot Crypto Trading

Spot crypto trading is now cleared to go live with any CFTC-registered exchange, bringing down another barrier to institutional adoption.

Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. Subscribe to the Morning Minute on Substack.

GM!

Today’s top news:

Barriers keep falling down, and institutional adoption is here.

The CFTC has formally approved spot crypto trading on CFTC-regulated exchanges, a first in the U.S.

Newly approved rules allow CFTC-registered exchanges to list spot Bitcoin and Ethereum markets. And Bitnomial is expected to be the first venue to launch under the new framework.

Until now, spot crypto trading in the U.S. has lived in a regulatory gray zone.

It was supervised indirectly but never explicitly approved.

This is the first time that the CFTC has authorized a federally regulated spot market.

And it comes in a hallmark week that included Vanguard and Charles Schwab opening their doors to spot crypto ETF trading.

“For the first time ever, spot crypto can trade on CFTC-registered exchanges that have been the gold standard for nearly a hundred years, with the customer protections and market integrity that Americans deserve.” - CFTC Chair Caroline Pham

The U.S. now has the beginnings of a fully regulated spot crypto market, something institutions have been waiting for for years.

At the same time, retail investors at Schwab and Vanguard, two of the largest brokerages in the country, now have the ability to buy crypto ETFs with the click of a few buttons.

This is what has been accomplished in the past few months:

It’s never been easier to enter the crypto market than it is right now.

Now we will see who indeed enters. And who all of this plumbing is being built for…

A few Crypto and Web3 headlines that caught my eye:

Here’s a rundown of major token, protocol and airdrop news from the day:

Here is the list of other notable headlines from the day in NFTs:

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