Bitcoin is set to be given the same financial safeguards as traditional assets. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has granted LedgerX, a cryptocurrency trading platform operator, approval to become the first federally regulated digital currency options exchange and clearinghouse in the US.

Despite reaching dizzying new highs this year -- and overtaking the value of gold -- Bitcoin has so far gone unregulated. LedgerX's new role will allow investors to hedge against price swings in digital currencies in the same way that traditional assets are protected.