Perpetual Contracts Enter U.S. Markets From Bitcoin to Oil

On Sept. 2 the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a motion asking a federal court to dismiss CME Group’s lawsuit challenging the agency’s May approval of KalshiEX’s Bitcoin perpetual contract. The filing argues CME has not shown a judicially remediable injury and that the exchange remains able to list comparable perpetual-style digital commodity products.

CME sued the CFTC on June 18 after the agency issued a May 29 policy statement describing how similar perpetual products could be listed. The central legal question in the case is whether a contract without a fixed expiration fits within the U.S. futures regime under the Commodity Exchange Act or should instead be treated as a swap.

The CFTC’s Sept. 2 filing asked the court to dismiss the case on standing grounds, saying any competitive disadvantage stems from CME’s own decisions because it can offer similarly structured perpetuals. The filing also argued that a court finding that Kalshi’s product is a swap would not necessarily eliminate competing contracts, since another venue could list the product under that classification. Under the current schedule, CME has until Oct. 2 to oppose the dismissal motion.

The CFTC’s May 29 policy designated certain markets as eligible to list perpetual-style contracts tied to Bitcoin and other digital commodities with deep, active spot markets. Contracts that fall outside that designation are subject to case-by-case review under Regulation 40.3. The policy created a faster path for qualifying digital commodity perpetuals and a separate review track for other products.

Regulated U.S. perpetual-style crypto futures have begun operating with different mechanics. Some offerings show 24/7 trading and families tied to tokens such as Bitcoin and Ethereum; some contracts are long-dated with five-year expirations while other applications seek literal no-expiry designs. In June, CFTC staff granted conditional relief for requests from Coinbase Derivatives and Bitnomial to remove expiration dates from digital commodity perpetual-style contracts that had expired on June 30.

Market participants are exploring links between on-chain price formation and registered U.S. venues. Payward’s Bitnomial, acquired in August, has discussed offering contracts for U.S. users tied to token prices on an on-chain market. Any such arrangement would require CFTC review of surveillance arrangements, market integrity safeguards and contractual relationships.

The perpetual model is also under review for traditional commodity markets. In June the CFTC sought public comment on around-the-clock futures trading and perpetual contracts for storable, physically delivered energy commodities, including West Texas Intermediate crude oil. Kalshi is reportedly preparing a filing for a WTI perpetual contract, which would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and would raise operational questions about physical delivery, clearing and settlement.

Market data show global crypto perpetual-futures volume reached about $61.7 trillion in 2025, up 29% from the prior year, while spot trading totaled $18.6 trillion over the same period. A court ruling on standing could leave the underlying statutory classification question unresolved pending further proceedings.