The CFTC has told a federal court that CME Group — the world’s biggest derivatives exchange — has shown no harm at all from America’s new perpetual futures policy. The ruling could decide whether leveraged Bitcoin perps, huge overseas, are allowed to grow legally inside the United States.
Key points:
- The CFTC’s court brief says CME lacks legal standing because it has not shown any actual or imminent injury from the perps policy.
- The agency opened the US door in May, approving the first Bitcoin perp from Kalshi, and says it will handle perps case by case as futures.
- CME argues perps are really swaps, not futures, because they never expire — and one analyst says CME may still have the edge.
Perpetual futures, known as perps, let traders bet on an asset’s future price with leverage, and unlike normal futures they have no built-in expiration date. Overseas, they have become one of the biggest forms of crypto derivatives trading, while US traders have mostly had to watch from the sidelines or use offshore platforms.
Read also: CME Launches BCH and UNI Futures Today — Is a UNI ETF Next?
Are perps futures or swaps — and why does it matter?
That single question sits at the heart of the case. CME insists a contract with no end date cannot be a future, so perps should be treated as swaps under a completely different set of rules. The CFTC, following the current US administration’s pro-crypto push, says it will regulate the products as futures, case by case — and it first asked the judge to dismiss CME’s case last month.
In its latest brief, filed on Friday, the agency also turned CME’s own words against it. It argued that CME has told investors it has heard no demand for perps and that perps are not substitutes for the futures CME already offers — and noted that CME’s crypto futures volume has actually risen since the policy shift. “CME cannot have it one way with the court and another way with the investing public on earnings calls,” the agency said. CME spokespeople did not immediately comment.
For traders, the stakes are simple: if the CFTC wins, regulated US perps can expand quickly and pull volume away from offshore venues; if CME wins, the new market could be slowed or reshaped before it really starts. A policy analyst at TD Cowen warned on Monday that CME may still hold the stronger legal hand — so this fight is far from over, and every filing is worth watching.
— Crypto News Daily News Desk
This post is news only, not financial advice. Always do your own research before buying or selling crypto.
Sources: CoinDesk
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