The Securities and Exchange Commission has paused its approval of Nasdaq's plan to list and trade cash-settled bitcoin index options after a petition from CME Group. CME argues that bitcoin is a commodity and that options on a bitcoin index should fall under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's jurisdiction, not the SEC's.

US buy-side firms increased FX derivatives positions in the first quarter, with fund forwards notional rising 15.6% and options notional climbing 16.6%, according to disclosures. Pimco led a $187 billion increase in fund forwards exposure, while TIAA drove insurer activity as life insurers' forwards positions rose almost 10%.

Keeping pace with technological change is a growing priority for FCMs. In fact, 56% believe they risk falling behind competitors without AI integration in their clearing operations. Discover where firms are investing in post-trade technology to support AI readiness and accelerate modernization.

The DTCC will fully launch its DTCC Tokenization Service in October, potentially improving balance sheet efficiency by 30% to 50%, according to some firms. DTCC last month conducted live transactions across asset classes, demonstrating real-time collateral mobility and liquidity enhancement. "DTCC successfully showcased how tokenization can enable real-time collateral mobility, enhance liquidity and capital efficiency, reduce counterparty risk and support interoperability between traditional and digital ecosystems," says Brian Steele, DTCC's president of clearing and securities services.

Europe's exchange groups are benefiting from a boom in stock trading, giving bourses a revenue lift even as they expand into less volume-sensitive services. The rebound demonstrates how equities activity still matters for market infrastructure providers despite years of diversification into data, clearing and technology businesses.

Indian stock traders are wary ahead of a major equity derivatives expiry after the implementation of a new closing price mechanism. The National Stock Exchange of India has introduced a 20-minute auction to determine closing prices, replacing the previous volume-weighted average price method, resulting in volatility. Although analysts see the change as a positive step toward better price discovery, they say the transition period may bring uncertainty.

Banks are increasingly using derivatives known as "crash puts" to hedge risk from leveraged exchange-traded funds, which offer the potential for double or triple the daily returns of individual stocks, Bloomberg reports. The practice has led to a surge in activity in a niche corner of the derivatives market.

TMX Group said its main focus after buying Cboe's Australian business will be moving clients onto its own market technology over the next 12 to 18 months. The transition could strengthen competition with ASX, whose infrastructure problems have frustrated traders, while TMX Australia also remains dependent on ASX clearing and settlement as it builds out its rival exchange.

Treasury basis trade returns have dwindled to just a few basis points as large dealers use softer capital rules to replicate a strategy long dominated by hedge funds. The compression is forcing firms to reassess the trade's appeal, with bank participation reducing dislocations and making the once-popular arbitrage far less rewarding.

Democratic senators urged the CFTC to restrict prediction-market trading on wildfires, warning that such contracts could create incentives for arson or misuse of sensitive fire-risk information. The letter adds pressure to the agency's review of guardrails for prediction markets, even as regulated platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket US do not currently offer wildfire-specific contracts.

The CLARITY Act is running out of time before the Senate recess, with the crypto market-structure bill still seven votes short of the 60 needed to advance. The measure would divide digital-asset oversight between the SEC and CFTC, but Democratic resistance and concerns over President Donald Trump's crypto ties are threatening the industry's push for a durable federal rulebook.