CFTC Seeks to Dismiss CME Lawsuit Over Crypto Perpetual Futures
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a motion to dismiss a civil suit against it by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group. The CME lawsuit, filed in June, 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 to sue because they could not make a 'concrete showing that it is in fact likely to suffer financial injury.'
The motion added that 'any CFTC-registered exchange can list perpetual futures on digital assets,' and that the CME had not alleged or could not plausibly allege that they suffered a financial injury from the CFTC's authorization of perpetual futures contracts.
A spokesperson for the CFTC previously called the initial lawsuit 'frivolous' and said the agency was engaging in 'lawfare.'