Perpetual Contracts Challenge US Regulatory Framework

A federal court case is unfolding over the legitimacy of perpetual contracts in the US financial markets. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has asked a federal court to dismiss CME's challenge to Kalshi's Bitcoin perpetual contract, arguing that CME can list similar digital commodity products and alleviate any competitive harm.

The lawsuit revolves around whether a contract without a fixed expiration belongs in the US futures regime. The CFTC maintains that if a judicial decision treats Kalshi's product as a swap, it would not necessarily remove competing exposure from the market, as another venue might offer it under that classification.

Crypto perpetual-futures volume reached about $61.7 trillion in 2025, up 29% from the previous year, while spot trading totaled $18.6 trillion over the same period, according to CryptoQuant data.