The partnership between Global Futures and Options (GFO-X) and a London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) business may pave the way for the United Kingdom’s first centrally cleared trading venue for digital asset derivatives. The service is scheduled to launch in Q4 of 2023, subject to regulatory approval.
As per the April 11 announcement, LCH SA, LSEG’s Paris-based clearinghouse subsidiary, will offer clearing services for dollar-denominated, cash-settled Bitcoin (BTC) index futures and options contracts traded on the GFO-X venue.
Digital Assets: LCH SA To Offer Clearing Services For Bitcoin F&O Contracts Traded On GFO-X https://t.co/n1bF2ZbZwp
— DailyAlts (@DailyAlts) April 13, 2023
GFO-X is authorised by the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority to operate a multilateral trading facility. Arnab Sen, GFO-X co-founder and CEO, hailed it as “the UK’s first regulated and centrally cleared trading venue focused entirely on digital asset futures and options.”
LCH SA has launched a segregated clearing service called LCH DigitalAssetClear. Frank Soussan, head of LCH DigitalAssetClear, stated:
“Bitcoin index futures and options are a rapidly growing asset class, with increasing interest among institutional market participants looking for access within a regulated environment they are familiar with.”
With traditional financial institutions and major corporations showing interest in digital assets, Samsung launched a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, while the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange plans to expand its crypto trading. Likewise, a Boerse Stuttgart Digital subsidiary has secured regulatory approval to offer a cryptocurrency custody service, and Nasdaq is set to launch a crypto custody service in H1 of this year.
Related: The creator of the FTSE100 launches indices for crypto; Magazine: Pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton ‘10x more into BTC, 4x more into ETH’: Hall of Flame
