Tassat Regains CFTC No-Action Relief Ahead of Eventual Bitcoin Swaps Contract Listing
Tassat Derivatives plans to list a bitcoin swaps contract in late 2020 despite a bevy of delays that caused the swaps execution facility (SEF) to temporarily fall out of regulators’ good graces.
- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Tuesday reinstated Tassat’s no-action relief it had first acquired after last November’s CFTC-approved SEF registration transfer with trueEX.
- Tassat lost that status on Aug. 1 due to dormancy regulations that require SEFs to trade at least once every 12 months, according to a CFTC letter.
- Since trueEX last traded on July 19, 2019, and Tassat did not list its product — or execute any trades — in the ensuing year, Tassat lost its no-action relief status and had to ask for it back.
- Tassat blamed the hold-up on “internal and external delays” in its CFTC request. Among them: leadership changes at the regulator, an executive exodus at Tassat (the company’s then-CEO departed in March), COVID-19 onboarding troubles and other pandemic-related pains.
- “Tassat states, despite the delays, it has not stopped working on, and preparing for, the launch of its Bitcoin swap contract,” the CFTC said in the letter reinstating the no-action.
- It was unclear whether the swaps launch is imminent. The CFTC letter stated Tassat anticipates a Q3 launch, but an accompanying press release slated the listing for Q4.
