CFTC to Unveil Crypto Perpetual Contract Policy Within a Month

Crypto perpetual futures, contracts without an expiry date, have become a major source of leveraged trading but remain concentrated on offshore venues. The regulatory question is whether the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission can divide oversight without imposing duplicative costs that deter domestic liquidity. Kalshi estimates offshore perpetuals volume exceeded $90 trillion in 2025, up from about $28 trillion in 2023, underscoring both the market’s scale and the risk of leaving it largely outside U.S. supervision.

A bipartisan group including former CFTC Chair Chris Giancarlo, former commissioners Brian Quintenz and Sharon Brown-Hruska, former SEC Commissioner Steven Wallman and former SEC Chief Economist Chester Spatt urged a risk-based approach in a comment letter reported on Aug. 31, 2026. The SEC and CFTC sought input in June on definitions and jurisdiction for swaps and emerging derivatives as the CLARITY Act remained stalled during recess. Separately, the SEC sent revised crypto-custody rules to White House review in late August, while comments on its “Reg Crypto” proposal are due Oct. 20.

Perpetual contracts have no expiry date and use funding rates to keep contract prices close to spot prices, making them suitable for assets such as bitcoin that trade around the clock. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s delineation of their appropriate use has implications for farmers and companies that use futures on corn, cotton and other commodities to hedge risk. It also signals that crypto-market structures will not be transplanted wholesale into physical commodity markets.

On June 23, 2026, CFTC Chair Michael Selig told the American Cotton Shippers Association’s annual convention that 24-hour perpetual contracts were not a natural fit for agricultural markets, which have limited trading hours and rely on physical delivery. The CFTC had approved Kalshi’s BTCPERP Bitcoin Spot Reference Perpetual Futures on May 29 and issued an interpretation and no-action letter concerning Coinbase’s application. The related documents did not disclose trading amounts.

Bitcoin perpetual futures have no expiry date, allowing traders to maintain leveraged positions over long periods through margin and funding-rate payments. Trading in the contracts has historically been concentrated on offshore crypto exchanges. Bringing them under U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) oversight would give retail and institutional investors a regulated channel while improving market transparency and investor protection.

In May 2026, the CFTC approved KalshiEX’s listing of the BTCPERP contract, marking the first entry of Bitcoin perpetual futures into the regulated U.S. market. The approval allows investors to trade a Bitcoin derivative with no fixed expiry under the U.S. regulatory framework. Reports did not disclose the contract’s trading volume, maximum leverage or formal launch date.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently approved Kalshi, Coinbase and Kraken to offer crypto perpetual contracts in the United States, aiming to bring demand previously concentrated on offshore platforms under domestic oversight. These high-leverage derivatives have no expiration date, raising retail investor protection and market competition concerns among traditional institutions.

CFTC Chair Michael Selig has publicly defended the approvals, arguing that regulated U.S. markets can give retail investors better protections than offshore platforms and saying some incumbents are “afraid of the future.” Reports have not disclosed the exact approval dates, contract sizes or trading volumes, but they confirm that all three platforms have been authorized to offer the products in the United States.

Perpetual futures have no expiry date and use funding rates to keep contract prices close to spot prices. They are a mainstay of the global crypto derivatives market, which recorded more than $60 trillion in trading volume in 2025. Kraken parent Payward announced on April 17, 2026, that it would acquire Bitnomial for up to $550 million, gaining its CFTC-licensed exchange, clearinghouse and futures commission merchant to establish a regulated foundation for bringing the products back to the United States.

Kraken initially said in late May 2026 that it would launch the contracts within 30 days. On June 15, it formally made them available to eligible U.S. clients through Kraken Pro, with the contracts listed on Bitnomial. The initial offering covers nine assets: BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, ADA, LINK, DOGE, LTC and AVAX. Trading is integrated with spot, margin and CME futures in a single interface.