Overview
- The CFTC on May 29 approved KalshiEX’s bitcoin perpetual contract and issued a policy statement and staff guidance to create a case‑by‑case review path for other perpetuals.
- The agency’s Market Participants Division also issued an interpretive letter and no‑action position that lets Coinbase Financial Markets route certain U.S. customers to Deribit perpetuals treated as foreign futures under narrow conditions.
- Kalshi says it is preparing to offer BTCPERP to U.S. traders under CFTC oversight while Kraken plans to launch CFTC‑regulated bitcoin perpetuals for eligible U.S. clients within about 30 days using its Bitnomial/NinjaTrader Clearing setup.
- CFTC staff published detailed 24/7 trading and clearing expectations covering real‑time surveillance, margining, reference pricing at funding intervals, business continuity and FCM risk controls for round‑the‑clock markets.
- Perpetuals rely on repeated funding payments rather than fixed expiry dates, which has pushed much trading offshore and raises novel surveillance and liquidity risks that regulators want addressed before U.S. venues become active and liquid.