The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has published the CFTC notice, a set of frequently asked questions clarifying the operational details of how futures commission merchants (FCMs) and clearinghouses should handle crypto assets used as collateral in derivatives markets.
The FAQs were issued jointly by the CFTC’s Market Participants Division and Division of Clearing and Risk. They address questions raised last December by two staff members’ letters regarding tokenised collateral and a no-action position on digital assets accepted as margin.
Although the bulk of the FAQ confirms what was already implicit in the original letters, two points add greater clarity. The most notable is a specific capital charge for payment stablecoins. The no action letter required FCMs to impose “an applicable capital charge” against those deposited as residual interest in customer segregated accounts but left the figure to be determined under each firm’s risk management programme.
Residual interest refers to the FCM’s own funds held in segregated customer accounts when the customer’s margin falls too low. The FAQ now specifies that FCMs holding proprietary positions in bitcoin or ether should apply a minimum 20% haircut, while payment stablecoins get a 2% capital charge both for residual interest purposes and when computing its own regulatory capital.
This is aligned with the Securities Exchange and Commission’s (SEC) treatment of broker dealer proprietary positions in payment stablecoins and reflects a wider trend of coordination. The SEC and CFTC signed a memorandum of understanding on Mar. 11 to formalise their coordination on crypto policy, while CFTC Chair Michael Selig earlier this month said that the two agencies are working on a joint crypto asset taxonomy.
The FAQ also confirmed that swap dealers cannot use crypto assets, including payment stablecoins, as collateral for uncleared swaps. However, it said that tokenised forms of eligible collateral may be exchanged as long as they meet regulatory requirements.
Derivatives clearing organisations (DCOs), meanwhile, may accept crypto assets as initial margin for cleared transactions if they meet minimum requirements for credit, market and liquidity risks. They must apply a haircut, however and review them on a monthly basis.
Market participants believe that the newly clarified guidance will open the door for bitcoin ether and certain payment stablecoins to be used as margin collateral in regulated derivatives markets.
In a note, Stephan Ariyan, senior counsel with Norton Rose Fulbright’s (NRF) Financial Services, said that for FCMs, the opportunity is real but conditional. Crypto collateral may improve liquidity and collateral mobility, but only for firms prepared to absorb higher compliance friction, conservative haircuts, expanded reporting, and regulator‑ready risk governance.
He added, that for DCOs and swap dealers, the takeaway is more restrained. Existing Part 39 and Part 23 rules still rule the day, and crypto does not get a free pass simply because it settles faster. “In short, the CFTC is signalling that crypto may enter the margin ecosystem, but only if it looks, acts, and risks like traditional collateral, with blockchain speed but old‑school discipline,” he said.
