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ARTICLE · 11 NOVEMBER 2025

Are You Using 'Finfluencers': Practical Guidance For CFTC-Registered Derivatives Intermediaries And Exchanges

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Retail participation in futures, forex and swaps has accelerated markedly in recent years, propelled by low-cost access, mobile platforms and growing interest in crypto-referenced instruments...

United StatesFinance and Banking
Carl E. Kennedy
Carl E. Kennedy
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Retail participation in futures, forex and swaps has accelerated markedly in recent years, propelled by low-cost access, mobile platforms and growing interest in crypto-referenced instruments, event contracts and micro-sized derivatives. This phenomenon marks the latest turn in a decades-long arc: retail derivatives first took off in the late 1990s with the advent of online retail forex and derivatives education providers, as internet brokers, margin access and platforms democratized trading that was previously reserved for institutions. Today, multiple intermediaries and exchanges expressly court retail users, and social media has become a primary channel for discovery and education.

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