Bitnomial Announces Upcoming Launch of Bitnomial Clearinghouse, a CFTC-Regulated Digital Asset Derivatives Clearinghouse

Bitnomial Exchange will be listing Bitnomial Clearinghouse cleared contracts starting January 30^th

Bitnomial also announced the hiring of a Chief Risk Officer and a Director of Enterprise Risk Management

CHICAGO, Jan. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Bitnomial, Inc. ("Bitnomial"), a digital asset derivatives exchange company that operates CFTC-regulated exchange, clearinghouse, and brokerage subsidiaries, today announced the upcoming launch of Bitnomial Clearinghouse, LLC ("BNCH"), a CFTC registered derivatives clearing organization and stablecoin clearinghouse, on January 30, 2025.

The launch of BNCH represents a historic milestone by being only the fourth U.S. clearinghouse to clear margined, physically-settled, and cash-settled derivatives contracts. This is not just a milestone for Bitnomial, but also a game-changer for the broader $100 billion average daily volume global crypto derivatives market, 95% of which has operated offshore until now.

Luke Hoersten, CEO of Bitnomial, commented on the launch, "While our exchange and brokerage businesses have been critical in building our foundation, the launch of the clearinghouse represents the culmination of our vision. For the first time, we will provide a fully operational, end-to-end ecosystem that redefines how derivatives are traded, cleared, and settled within a U.S.-regulated framework, upgraded to digital asset infrastructure. Additionally, we'd like to thank MIAX Futures Exchange for our close and successful business relationship over the years."

As part of this transition, Bitnomial has been winding down trading of Bitnomial's legacy-cleared products and will be listing all new expiries on BNCH according to the following timeline

• January 29, 2025: All legacy-cleared contracts expire.
• January 30, 2025: All BNCH-cleared contracts are listed.

At launch, BNCH will clear Bitnomial Exchange's current core offerings, including physically settled Bitcoin futures and options along with the recently launched Hashrate futures. The following clearing members anticipate supporting clearing BNCH at launch with more in the pipeline:

• Marex Capital Markets Inc.
• R.J. O'Brien & Associates, LLC
• Bitnomial Clearing, LLC

To support this transition, Bitnomial also announced the appointments of Amy McCormick, as Chief Risk Officer of BNCH (formerly of OCC and CME) and Dave Bock as Director of Enterprise Risk Management of Bitnomial (formerly of ABN AMRO Clearing US and Valkyrie Trading).

Michael Dunn, President of Bitnomial Exchange, said "The motivation for getting approval and launching a new clearinghouse was driven by necessity. Traditional clearing infrastructure has not met the evolving needs of the digital asset market. Those looking to effectively hedge their digital asset portfolio and liquidity providers currently face high costs because spot positions are not recognized in legacy clearing systems. Our clearinghouse will eliminate these inefficiencies by accepting digital asset collateral to margin futures and options trading, subject to all necessary regulatory approvals, which is unprecedented in the US."

Similarly, the adoption of Hashrate futures has been limited by onerous margin requirements, resulting in prohibitively high carrying costs for industrial participants like miners and lenders. BNCH addresses this by lowering margin rates by almost half, while more accurately reflecting the risks in the market, instead of arbitrarily high margins for new and novel products.

Becoming a self-clearing exchange is just the first step to launching long-planned product innovations and upgrades, subject to all necessary regulatory approvals, such as:

• Accepting digital assets, such as BTC, ETH, XRP, and stablecoins, as margin collateral
• U.S.-based perpetual futures markets and our professional trading platform for US perpetual futures called Botanical
• Portfolio margining across the Crypto Complex^®, unlocking unparallelled capital efficiency
• Real-time risk management and margin calculations to more accurately reflect market risks and reduce margins where appropriate

With a clearinghouse designed from the ground up to be digital asset-native, Bitnomial is poised to reshape U.S. federally regulated derivatives markets and set a new standard for the derivatives industry.

About Bitnomial, Inc.
Bitnomial, Inc. is a digital asset derivatives exchange company that owns and operates US CFTC-regulated exchange (DCM), clearinghouse (DCO), and brokerage (FCM) subsidiaries. Bitnomial offers the Bitcoin Complex^® comprising physically delivered Bitcoin Futures, Options, Deci Futures, and Hashrate Futures.

Follow @bitnomial on X and LinkedIn, and visit bitnomial.com to learn more.

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Bitnomial Media Contact
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SOURCE Bitnomial Inc.