This is an interesting development. Typically commodities futures and options contracts can only be traded on a DCM (designated contract market) like ICE or CME. After leaving once DCM, the Chicago Climate Exchange, I started an exchange as a service startup, Exchangery, and sought DCM status. It requires a 12-18 month approval process, typically > 500k in legal fees, and a guarantee fund that is based on the amount of money moved across the platform. The last requirement could easily be 10s of millions for something like Bitcoin. It used to only be imposed on clearing firms, but post Dodd-Frank it is applied to the exchange as well.<p>This is drastically going to thin the players in the space, and probably force most bitcoin exchanges to stay strictly in the non-derivative trading world. It might also tempt players like CME and ICE in to trading futures on Bitcoin if they think the volumes are potentially large enough.<p>As far as SEFs go, they are limited to swap trading, which can be dressed up to act like an option but isn't really the same thing.<p>Fun times ahead.