24.07.201722:19:00UTC+00LedgerX to offer Bitcoin Options This Fall

Cryptocurrency platform operator LedgerX LLC will offer one to six month bitcoin-to-dollar options this fall after securing approval from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to operate as a federally-regulated exchange.

According to a statement released by the CFTC, LedgerX will be authorized by regulators to provide clearing services for fully-collateralized cryptocurrency swaps. Regulators had given the company the rubber stamp to trade digital currencies earlier this month.

The approval makes LedgerX the first federally regulated bitcoin options exchange and clearinghouse to list fully-collateralized, physically settled bitcoin options in the U.S.

LedgerX CEO Paul Chou affirmed the news during a phone interview. It is expected that contracts for other digital currencies such as Ethereum's ether will also follow.

Chou said that they want to start with a smaller parameter before expanding in the following months. He said that the company is getting people that wants to hedge and people that wants exposure to a new asset class that can help them have variety in their portfolio. The operator is also getting people to get the possible upside of potential digital currency.