The Wait for Physically-Settled Bitcoin Futures Continue

A day after LedgerX announced the launch of its physically-settled Bitcoin Futures contracts; the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has denied issuing any approvals. In a statement, CFTC said that “LedgerX has not yet been approved by the commission.”

Consequently, the derivatives exchange’s press representative, Ryan Gorman, has distanced himself from the firm citing “concerns about the events of the last 24 hours.” Already, officials from LedgerX have confirmed that the launch of the futures contracts has been stopped.

Earlier, LedgerX, a clearinghouse and a Bitcoin derivatives exchange based in the US, announced it was launching Bitcoin Futures contracts. These Futures were to be physically settled just like Bakkt’s.

LedgerX Future’s product was open to both individual traders and institutional clients. However, those seeking to trade on the derivatives exchange were required to go through a KYC procedure. All the same, and according to the platform, retail and institutional traders would have had different accounts. For instance, retail traders would use the new Omni platform that has connections with LedgerX while those with millions in assets would use “LedgerX’s other products.”

By being physically-settled, customers who interact with the Futures contract would receive actual Bitcoins when the contracts expire. Although other Bitcoin Futures have found their way into the US market, LedgerX’s futures contracts were the only ones that physically-settles, competing with Bakkt who are seeking approvals from the CFTC.