US Approves High-Leverage Bitcoin Trading as Crypto Founders Remain Blocked

The US has approved high-leverage Bitcoin trading through regulated exchanges, but crypto founders still face legal barriers to raising funds.

On May 29, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) gave its approval for a Bitcoin perpetual contract on Kalshi's platform. This meant that traders could take positions larger than their collateral, and hold contracts with no expiry date.

Just over three months later, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a rule to allow crypto projects to raise funds from the public under existing securities law. However, this proposal is still in its comment period, and it's unclear when or if it will be finalized.

Meanwhile, Bitnomial has launched US-regulated perpetual futures, including Bitcoin contracts with no expiry date. Coinbase also offers long-dated futures with five-year expiries, but it's unclear whether these are true-perpetuals.