CFTC Greenlights Kalshi and Coinbase Paths to Bitcoin Perpetuals in U.S. Regulatory Breakthrough

May 29 — The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) took two major steps in one day to bring "true" crypto perpetual contracts closer to regulated U.S. markets. The agency approved KalshiEX, LLC (Kalshi)'s submission to list a bitcoin perpetual contract, and separately issued a no-action letter to Coinbase that allows certain perpetual futures offerings for U.S. customers through its registered futures commission merchant subsidiary. The CFTC also released a Policy Statement on the Listing of Perpetual Contracts, outlining how regulated venues can list perpetual products. In its order, the CFTC said Kalshi's Bitcoin perpetual contract meets the Commodity Exchange Act and the core principles required of a Designated Contract Market (DCM). The review focused on factors including the depth and liquidity of the underlying Bitcoin spot market, contract design, and Kalshi's risk-management capabilities. The approval requires ongoing compliance and notes that perpetual structures are "not necessarily suitable for all asset classes." The CFTC encouraged other market participants to engage with regulators and pursue formal approvals for perpetual products tied to other underlyings. Separately, the CFTC's Market Participants Division issued interpretive and no-action relief to Coinbase Financial Markets (CFM), permitting it to offer crypto options and perpetual contracts listed on Deribit to U.S. users. The letter states those perpetual contracts may be treated as foreign futures under CFTC Regulation 30.1. Under specified conditions, the CFTC said it would not recommend enforcement action against CFM for transferring customer-held digital commodities and payment stablecoins to an overseas affiliate for margin purposes, even if that affiliate can reuse customer assets. Until now, U.S. markets have lacked "true" perpetuals, which have no expiration date. Coinbase Derivatives launched "perpetual-style" futures in July 2025 through self-certification, using contract terms of up to five years to mimic perpetual economics while retaining an expiry. The latest approvals outline two compliance tracks for genuine perpetuals: Kalshi via the standard DCM futures route, and Coinbase via foreign-futures treatment paired with crypto collateral arrangements. CFTC Chairman Mike Selig said perpetual contracts play an important role in risk management and price discovery across global crypto markets, calling their U.S. launch a key step in positioning the country as a global crypto hub. He added the CFTC intends to protect market integrity by curbing excessive leverage, volatility, and systemic risk, while acknowledging the current approach has not yet been codified into permanent rules and may evolve. Perpetual futures have long posed a legal and structural challenge for U.S. regulators. Because they do not expire and lack a traditional final settlement, they strain longstanding assumptions under the Commodity Exchange Act that futures should include an expiration date and a convergence mechanism. The CFTC has historically debated whether perpetuals should be regulated as futures or swaps, a decision that would change clearing, margin, and reporting requirements. Concerns over leverage, speculation, and manipulation have also driven caution. A Bitcoin perpetual such as BTCPERP is designed to track the spot price with no fixed maturity, using periodic funding payments between longs and shorts to keep prices aligned with the underlying market. Globally, perpetuals dominate crypto derivatives trading. CoinGecko's 2025 Annual Report put centralized-exchange crypto derivatives volume at about $857 trillion, with perpetual contracts representing roughly 78%. On decentralized exchanges, 2025 cumulative perpetual volume reached about $6.7 trillion, up 346% year over year. Offshore decentralized perpetual venues have expanded aggressively into non-crypto exposures through on-chain synthetic assets. Hyperliquid, for example, has offered access linked to the S&P 500, crude oil, and gold. By the end of May 2026, Hyperliquid's perpetual trading volume had climbed to $586.12 billion. Allium on-chain data showed the platform's total derivatives open interest hit a record near $60 billion by the end of May, with participation rising among both individuals and institutions. Market observers view the CFTC's move as more than a nod to crypto demand—it is also a defensive onshore response to offshore innovation that increasingly treats many assets as perpetual-style instruments. Regulated Bitcoin futures such as those listed on CME offer institutional hedging tools, but their leverage profile and trading dynamics differ from the perpetual format favored by retail and professional traders. For Kalshi, the approval opens a new avenue in prediction markets, further blurring lines between event-based markets and crypto derivatives. For Coinbase, perpetual trading volume and related revenue could become more visible in upcoming earnings. The regulatory clarity, coupled with support for crypto collateral, may lower frictions that previously pushed U.S. traders to offshore venues and could draw in traditional capital from hedge funds and family offices. The approvals are also expected to accelerate additional listings, including ETH perpetuals, contributing to a broader U.S.-linked crypto derivatives ecosystem. Over time, the framework could strengthen U.S. competitiveness in global crypto derivatives, attracting capital, talent, and infrastructure and supporting deeper integration between crypto markets and traditional finance.