Singapore Exchange has begun offering cryptocurrency perpetual futures aimed at sophisticated institutional investors rather than retail traders.
The new products allow exposure to price differences between spot and futures markets, a strategy widely used in traditional finance known as basis trading.
SGX introduced perpetual futures contracts for Bitcoin and Ethereum in November following heightened institutional interest in digital assets.
There have been attempts to paint this as Singapore wanting to be a crypto hub, but it is about being a derivatives hub.
Michael Syn said.
The contracts are designed for investors seeking portfolio diversification or arbitrage rather than short-term price speculation.
SGX’s crypto futures offer significantly lower leverage than offshore platforms and do not use automatic liquidation mechanisms.
Syn said institutional attitudes towards crypto have shifted over the past year as bitcoin has increasingly been treated like gold in asset allocation strategies.
Asia-Pacific has seen strong growth in crypto derivatives activity, creating demand for regulated venues offering risk-managed products.
SGX officials said the offering responds to client demand for safer access to crypto markets within an established regulatory framework.
At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $90,832.82.