CFTC Challenges CME Group's Crypto Perpetual Futures Lawsuit
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has asked a federal judge to dismiss CME Group's lawsuit over the approval of cryptocurrency perpetual futures. The agency argues that CME has not shown a concrete financial injury and therefore lacks legal standing.
CME filed the lawsuit in June after the CFTC approved Kalshi's BTCPERP contract as a futures product, which tracks Bitcoin's spot price and trades continuously with no expiration date. CME argues that those features fit the legal definition of a swap rather than a futures contract.
The CFTC says CME could list similar contracts under the same framework, but CME claims its customers have not requested perpetual futures, which the regulator cites as evidence of lack of competitive harm.