The CFTC in the U.S. clarifies pilot requirements for using crypto assets as collateral: BTC/ETH collateral must meet a 20% capital adequacy ratio

According to market news, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has provided detailed guidance on a pilot program for using crypto assets as collateral. The regulatory agency has notified that futures commission merchants (FCMs) participating in the pilot must submit a notice to the market participants division, indicating the start date for accepting crypto assets as margin. The key points include:

1. Capital requirements: Only Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins can be accepted as collateral, with BTC/ETH calculated at a 20% capital adequacy ratio and stablecoins at 2%. Futures brokers participating in the pilot can only accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, or stablecoins for the first three months;

2. Compliance and reporting obligations: Futures brokers participating in the pilot must promptly report significant cybersecurity or system issues and submit a weekly report on the total amount of crypto assets in customer accounts;

3. Expansion after three months: Other crypto assets can be used as collateral after three months, while some reporting requirements will be terminated;

4. Limited use: Only the remaining equity of dedicated payment stablecoins deposited in customer segregated accounts is allowed; crypto assets cannot be used for uncleared swap collateral, but qualifying tokenized assets may be substituted.

5. Derivatives clearing organization requirements: Clearing organizations that meet CFTC credit, market, and liquidity risk requirements can accept crypto assets and stablecoins as initial margin for cleared transactions.