U.S. approves perpetual Bitcoin futures; token sales blocked

On May 29 the Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved Kalshi’s BTCPERP, a true perpetual Bitcoin contract, for trading on a designated contract market. The contract was cleared with up to six times leverage and the commission issued a policy statement explaining how its existing principles apply to perpetuals. The approval allows other exchanges to file similar products but does not automatically authorize additional listings.

Bitnomial has launched U.S.-regulated perpetual futures, including a live Bitcoin contract. Coinbase’s domestic derivatives materials continue to describe long-dated futures with five-year expiries; the company has not publicly confirmed a true-perpetual product. The CFTC provided temporary no-action relief on June 12 that allowed Bitnomial and Coinbase to remove expirations from specific contracts; that relief expired on June 30.

The CFTC’s Innovation Advisory Committee reviewed crypto perpetuals on Aug. 20 and reported no new approvals. The commission also extended a public comment period on whether perpetual and around-the-clock trading models could apply to energy markets through Aug. 26.

Market activity increased in August. Bitcoin traded near $77,000 on Aug. 21, about 22% higher than a week earlier. Global derivatives data for the period recorded roughly $154.6 billion in 24-hour Bitcoin futures volume and about $56.2 billion in open interest. Rolling-window snapshots captured around $840 million in Bitcoin futures liquidations and an overlapping snapshot of about $3.1 billion in bearish liquidations as the price rose past $72,000. Those figures include activity on offshore platforms.

On Aug. 18 the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed Regulation Crypto Assets; the draft was entered into the Federal Register on Aug. 21, opening a 60-day comment period that ends Oct. 20. The proposal would create a public-offering regime for token projects with a $5 million startup exemption, public tiers capped at $20 million and $75 million, and a safe-harbor mechanism under which a token could be treated as separate from the original investment contract once core development is complete. Until the SEC finalizes a rule, issuers cannot rely on the proposal to conduct regulated public token sales.

The CLARITY Act, which would allocate statutory authority between the SEC and the CFTC, advanced in the Senate earlier this year. A cloture motion is scheduled for Sept. 15 and Senate Banking leadership has indicated intent to seek a September vote.

Under current rules, regulated U.S. exchanges can list true-perpetual Bitcoin contracts under the CFTC approval process while token issuers lack an active SEC framework for public fundraising. Founders and projects continue to raise funds through private sales, traditional securities exemptions, or offshore channels until the SEC finalizes its proposal or Congress enacts statutory changes.