CFTC Moves to Dismiss CME Lawsuit Over Crypto Futures Classification
The CFTC has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group, which claimed that the regulator's treatment of cryptocurrency 'futures' as 'swaps' went against Congress.
The CFTC argued in its filing that the group lacked standing because it could not demonstrate any concrete financial injury from the regulator's actions. The commission also pointed out that any CFTC-registered exchange can list perpetual futures on digital assets, including Bitcoin (BTC).
CME filed suit against the CFTC in June after the commission approved perpetual futures contracts tied to the spot price of BTC for prediction markets platform Kalshi and issued a no-action position for similar products on cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.
The CFTC called the CME complaint 'frivolous' and described the lawsuit as 'much ado about nothing.'