CFTC Seeks Dismissal of CME Lawsuit Over Crypto Perpetual Futures Approval

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has asked a federal court to dismiss CME Group's lawsuit over the approval of crypto perpetual futures, citing that the exchange lacks standing to sue. The dispute began in June when the CFTC approved prediction-market platform Kalshi's perpetual futures contracts tied to Bitcoin spot prices and issued a no-action letter for a similar product from Coinbase.

CME objected at the time, arguing that the decision was made under CFTC Chair Mike Selig's direction without a formal vote by the CFTC's five commissioners. The exchange also sued, claiming that permitting perpetual futures with no expiration by classifying them as swaps violates the Commodity Exchange Act.

The CFTC countered that CME has failed to show actual financial harm or a specific competitive injury. In its filing, the agency said any CFTC-registered exchange can list digital-asset perpetual futures, making it difficult to argue that CME was harmed by the decision.