Anchorage Digital has formally applied with the National Futures Association and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to register a new swap dealer entity, Anchorage Digital Swap Dealer, LLC. The move is designed to bring the firm’s growing bitcoin and ether options business under the same federal regulatory framework used by traditional derivatives dealers.
The company said demand is coming mainly from public companies that hold Bitcoin and Ethereum on their balance sheets, as well as asset managers and investment funds that need options to hedge risk and manage digital-asset exposure. If approved, the new entity plans initially to offer European-style options on bitcoin and ether with maturities of up to one year, with additional products possible subject to regulatory and internal approvals.
CEO and co-founder Nathan McCauley said institutions want a counterparty that can underwrite, report, margin and manage risk. “Swap dealer registration will allow us to meet them there,” he said. Anchorage Digital Bank, which became the first federally chartered digital-asset bank in 2021, already operates under OCC oversight. The proposed CFTC-regulated swap dealer would add capital, risk management, margin, reporting and trade documentation requirements.
Anchorage has also been building supporting infrastructure. In March it expanded its Atlas platform with collateral-management services for loans and derivatives, and in December 2025 it acquired Securitize For Advisors, adding a wealth-management platform for registered investment advisers. The filing follows broader institutional competition, including Coinbase’s expansion of crypto derivatives access, GCEX’s European-style bitcoin and ether options, and Kraken’s cash-settled BTC and ETH options launched earlier in 2026.
