Tanzeel Akhtar has been reporting on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology since 2015. Her work has appeared in leading publications including The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CoinDesk, Bitcoin…
Bitnomial has launched the first-ever U.S.-regulated futures contracts tied to Aptos (APT) adding a regulated venue for institutional access to the Layer 1 blockchain ecosystem.
The contracts began trading on January 14 on Bitnomial Exchange offering both institutional and retail traders a regulated venue for price discovery and risk management.
A Regulated Market for APT Exposure
The new APT futures contracts feature monthly expirations and can be settled in either U.S. dollars or APT, depending on position direction.
Traders are able to post margin in crypto or USD through Bitnomial Clearinghouse, LLC, with contracts accessible via Bitnomial Exchange Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) clearing members.
Michael Dunn, president of Bitnomial Exchange, said the launch fills a critical gap in the U.S. derivatives landscape. He noted that a regulated futures market is a prerequisite for spot crypto exchange-traded fund approvals under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s generic listing standards.
According to the firm with APT futures now live institutional participants can access Aptos exposure using the same regulated infrastructure they already rely on for Bitcoin and Ether derivatives including portfolio margining across positions.
Institutional Infrastructure Meets Aptos
Aptos is a Layer 1 blockchain designed to deliver sub-second finality and high transaction throughput. Built using the Move programming language and a parallel execution engine the network has attracted growing interest from institutions exploring scalable blockchain applications.
Solomon Tesfaye, chief business officer at Aptos Labs, said U.S.-regulated derivatives infrastructure is essential for institutional adoption. He adds that Bitnomial’s CFTC-regulated exchange and clearinghouse provide the compliance, custody and risk management framework required by sophisticated market participants seeking exposure to Aptos.
Expanding the Crypto Complex
The introduction of APT futures further broadens Bitnomial’s Crypto Complex which provides U.S. market participants access to a wide range of digital asset derivatives.
Delivery-settled contracts listed on Bitnomial Exchange can be margined with digital assets, a structure the company says enhances capital efficiency compared with traditional cash-only margining.
This model allows traders to manage exposure across multiple crypto derivatives products more efficiently within a single regulated venue.
What Comes Next
APT futures are available for trading today for institutional clients. Retail access is expected in the coming weeks through Botanical, Bitnomial’s retail trading platform.
Looking ahead, Bitnomial said it plans to expand its Aptos-linked offerings with perpetual futures and options, further deepening the market for regulated APT derivatives in the U.S.
Bitnomial is headquartered in Chicago and operates a suite of CFTC-regulated exchange, clearinghouse and clearing brokerage entities.
