The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has released new guidelines clarifying how offshore exchanges, including those offering crypto derivatives, can legally serve U.S. customers through the Foreign Board of Trade (FBOT) registration framework.

Non-U.S. exchanges must submit an application to the CFTC following the regulator’s Part 48 rules, demonstrating compliance with oversight, transparency, and customer protection standards.

Only upon approval may these platforms legally grant U.S. residents direct trading access to their systems.

This story is an excerpt from the Unchained Daily newsletter.

The new guidelines mean that major platforms like Binance that were forced offshore now have a defined way to legally serve U.S. traders again, potentially boosting liquidity and reducing fragmentation in the crypto markets.

Acting CFTC Chair Caroline D. Pham said that, after being driven offshore by the “unprecedented regulation-by-enforcement approach of the past several years,” firms “now have a path back to U.S. markets.”

The move is part of a broader “crypto sprint” regulatory overhaul, aiming to support responsible innovation and give U.S. users more trading choices under CFTC safeguards.