Acting Chairman Caroline Pham of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced a new pilot program. It will allow certain digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ether, and USDC, to be used as collateral in regulated derivatives markets.
This move gives market participants a safer and more transparent way to use digital assets while keeping strong protections in place. It also follows the GENIUS Act, which modernized rules for digital asset oversight. For beginners and investors, this signals that tokenized assets are moving from an experiment to a tool used in real financial markets.
A New Era for Tokenized Collateral
The pilot program introduces clear guidelines for using tokenized assets in futures and swaps trading. Tokenization means turning real world assets, such as Treasury bills, into digital versions that can move more quickly on blockchains. The CFTC says its rules apply the same way to digital and traditional assets, which helps remove confusion about how firms should treat these new tools. The guidance also explains how custody, valuation, and risk controls must work to keep customer funds safe.
A pivotal step forward for US markets: the @CFTC has provided guidance for the use of crypto, including stablecoins, as collateral in US derivatives markets.
This opens a path for FCMs to use digital assets as customer collateral all within the CFTC framework.
This is a huge… pic.twitter.com/zSTIslSPpo
— Coinbase Institutional 🛡️ (@CoinbaseInsto) December 8, 2025
To test this framework, the CFTC created a no-action path for Futures Commission Merchants. These firms can now accept Bitcoin, Ether, and USDC as margin during the first three months of the program. Margin is money traders put down to back their positions and reduce risk. During this period, firms must report weekly how much digital collateral they hold. This transparency lets regulators monitor risks in real time. The CFTC also removed older rules that no longer fit today’s market, clearing the way for modern systems.
.@CFTCpham Announces Launch of Digital Assets Pilot Program for Tokenized Collateral in Derivatives Markets: https://t.co/okRaxM9aQ9
— CFTC (@CFTC) December 8, 2025
A real world example of why this matters can be seen in the rapid growth of tokenized Treasury bills. Data from rwa.xyz shows the market rising above nine billion dollars this year as investors seek faster settlement and lower costs. Tokenized collateral lets firms move funds within minutes instead of waiting for banking hours, which helps reduce bottlenecks during market stress.
I’m launching a digital assets pilot program for BTC, ETH and USDC that will protect Americans under U.S. rules when you use @CFTC brokers to keep your crypto safe. Our new guidance will enable tokenized markets, and we’re cutting red tape that is outdated. Onwards!…
— Caroline D. Pham (@CarolineDPham) December 8, 2025
Industry Leaders Applaud the Move
Executives from Coinbase, Circle, Ripple, and Crypto.com praised the announcement. Many said this gives the United States the clarity needed to compete globally. Acting Chairman Pham noted that the goal is to offer Americans safe, regulated markets at home.
This is tremendous progress and I applaud @CarolineDPham for breaking through with this new guidance. USDC as collateral on CFTC regulated exchanges is a key step towards tokenized and more capital efficient markets. https://t.co/5pavUfN4u1
— Jeremy Allaire – jda.eth / jdallaire.sol (@jerallaire) December 9, 2025
She added that responsible innovation can boost economic growth by making markets more efficient. The program also aims to reduce the risks seen on offshore crypto exchanges by giving users a regulated alternative.
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