The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission threw open the doors for perpetual futures in the U.S. in May, approving the first bitcoin perp from Kalshi and suggesting that it was open for business on ensuring a domestic surge in such contracts. But the CME Group objected in court, and the CFTC has responded in court that the derivatives giant has no right to get in the way.

"Allegations of increased competition, without any plausible inference of an imminent financial injury," don't give CME the legal standing to challenge the CFTC's actions, the agency said in a brief filed on Friday, noting that volume in crypto futures at the CME has actually risen since its policy shift.

Perp contracts had soared overseas, becoming a major form of transaction in crypto derivatives, and the CFTC's move sought to clarify how the market could get rolling in the U.S. The agency — in response to President Donald Trump's aggressive crypto agenda that included bringing perps into domestic trading — said it'll regulate the products on a case-by-case basis as futures.

Perps allow traders to speculate on the future price of an asset with a typically leveraged position, and the contracts don't come with a built-in expiration.

But CME, which operates the leading global venues for derivatives trading, has insisted the contracts are not futures, because they have no end date. They're really swaps, the company's argument would have it, which would come with an entirely different regulatory approach. Spokespeople for CME didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the CFTC's latest filing.

Source link