CFTC Issues Advisory To Clarify FBOT Registration Framework For Non-U.S. Crypto Exchanges To Access U.S.-based Participants

To promote regulatory clarity, on August 28, 2025, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC")'s Division of Market Oversight issued an advisory to reaffirm its longstanding foreign board of trade ("FBOT") registration framework for non-U.S. exchanges, including non-U.S. crypto exchanges, that seek to offer trading access to U.S.-based participants.

The FBOT registration framework, which has been in place since the 1990s, allows non-U.S. exchanges legally organized and operating outside the United States to offer trading access to U.S.-based participants, provided they register as FBOTs with the CFTC. The advisory reaffirms that the FBOT registration framework applies to all asset classes, including digital assets, and aims to facilitate lawful onshore trading activity under CFTC oversight.