To offer regulated futures in the U.S., you need two approvals: one for the exchange and one for clearing. Backpack has secured the clearing approval.
On November 13, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued an order approving TLD Clearing, Inc. (doing business as Backpack Clearing) to register as a derivatives clearing organization (DCO). The approval is pursuant to Section 5b of the Commodity Exchange Act and Commission Rule 39.3(a). The order was issued in Washington and signed by Robert N. Sidman, Deputy Secretary of the Commission.
The scope is clearly stated: futures may be cleared on a margined basis; fully collateralized futures, futures options, and swaps may also be cleared. Fully collateralized is defined in Rule 39.2. The order also states that any subsequent new rules will take precedence, and that the Commission may modify, suspend, or terminate the order.
Within the same corporate group, the exchange approval has not come through yet. The application for designated contract market (DCM) status filed by affiliated company TLD Markets, Inc. is still listed as Pending on the CFTC website, with a submission date of April 22, 2026. So the precise interpretation is: registration of the clearing entity has been completed, but that does not mean U.S. futures trading is now open to users, nor does it mean any specific contracts have launched.