Key Highlights
- SGX is set to launch Bitcoin and Ethereum perpetual futures contracts on November 24.
- The products are strictly limited to accredited and institutional investors and are cash-settled.
- The launch will bring continuous, non-expiring derivative trading capabilities.
The Singapore Exchange (SGX) is set to launch Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) perpetual futures contracts on November 24. It aims to bring the growing volume of crypto derivatives trading into a regulated, exchange-cleared environment. It will target accredited and institutional investors.
Unlike standard futures, perpetual contracts would not have an expiry date and allow continuous leveraged trading on crypto prices. The products will be cash-settled in US dollars.
As per the official announcement, the contract specifications are for a size of 0.2 BTC for the Bitcoin perpetual futures and 5 ETH for the Ethereum contracts. Trading will span into extended hours: a T session from 7:05 am to 4:00 pm SGT and a T+1 session into the next day. SGX President Michael Syn stated that access will be limited to professional, accredited, and institutional investors.
The decision by SGX comes in the wake of a surge in global crypto derivatives trading, which now makes up more than two-thirds of all cryptocurrency volume. Perpetual futures are a key feature in that landscape, driving more than $187 billion in daily average volumes worldwide, with Asia a key driver of that activity.
SGX’s first signal toward the launch
The plan for the launch has been in the works since the first quarter of 2025, when SGX first showed its intent to offer Bitcoin perpetual futures to institutions in the latter half of the year, pending approval by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
The exchange has long regarded itself as the necessary “trusted link” between traditional finance (TradFi) and the crypto market. By making this move, backed by its strong credit rating (Aa2 from Moody’s), SGX aims to expand institutional market access, providing a contrast to the risks associated with numerous offshore crypto platforms.
Historically, the majority of this volume has been conducted on offshore, often less-regulated platforms. SGX is capitalizing on the demand from institutional clients who are increasingly allocating capital to digital assets but require the regulatory security and standardized risk management protocols of a major exchange.
A response to growing institutional demand
The strategy from SGX is straightforward, i.e., to offer a regulated and safe bridge for institutional money into the crypto derivatives market. For example, launching these contracts into an exchange-cleared model will, in theory, cut down on the counterparty risks found in many of the unregulated sites.
The exchange uses its regulatory position to support large institutional players who have a need for more stringent risk controls. This would include set percentage limits on price movements above or below a reference price.
Michael Syn, President, SGX Group, stated, “Digital assets have made their way into institutional investors’ portfolio. We have taken the next logical and deliberate step – applying the same institutional discipline that underpins global markets to crypto’s most traded pay-off. By bringing the perpetuals into an exchange-cleared, regulated framework, we offer institutions the trust and scalability they have been waiting for.”
If these perpetual futures work out, their launch could be a model for SGX to add more digital asset products to its lineup. The exchange sets the stage for possibly adding more complex products or tokenized assets in the future by creating a regulated market for these crypto derivatives that is both liquid and trustworthy.
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