US Market Imports Perpetual Futures, But CME Sues to Block

The CFTC's approval of KalshiEX's BTCPERP as a futures contract referencing Bitcoin's spot price has opened up new opportunities for US traders. This move allows exchanges to bring perpetual-style crypto futures into the US market, which are responsible for around 90% of derivatives volume in some measures.

Perpetual futures allow traders to hold or adjust exposure at any hour without choosing a contract month, folding speculation, hedging, market-making inventory and basis trades into a single instrument. Exchanges like this format because it pools liquidity that several dated expirations would otherwise split, deepening liquidity but also giving outsized influence to one funding rate and one liquidation engine.

The US market is building several perpetual markets at once, with Kalshi listing true perps and expanding beyond Bitcoin into Ether, XRP, and a widening roster of tokens. Coinbase runs perpetual-style futures on its domestic exchange and has also opened a regulated channel for US clients to reach global perpetual and options liquidity through its Deribit affiliate.

CME sued the CFTC and Chairman Michael Selig in federal court, asking a judge to vacate the Kalshi order and policy statement. CME argues that perpetuals meet the statutory definition of swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act, which would pull them into a far heavier regime of dealer registration, capital rules and reporting.