CFTC Greenlights Crypto Perpetual Futures in the US

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission cleared the way for crypto perpetual futures contracts this week, enabling Coinbase and Kalshi to move forward with offering these instruments to American traders, according to The Block.

Why It Matters

Perpetual futures — contracts with no expiry date — dominate offshore crypto derivatives trading, historically forcing U.S. traders to use unregulated foreign platforms to access them. Bringing these products under CFTC oversight gives domestic exchanges a direct path to compete with Binance, Bybit, and OKX on product parity. For traders, regulated perpetuals mean exchange-backed consumer protections and legal recourse unavailable on offshore venues. For platforms like Coinbase and Kalshi, it opens a high-volume revenue stream: perpetuals consistently account for the majority of global crypto derivatives volume. Gambling involves financial risk; perpetual futures with leverage can produce rapid, total loss of capital.

Context

The CFTC has historically treated crypto derivatives cautiously, pursuing enforcement actions against offshore platforms rather than licensing domestic equivalents. Prediction market operator Kalshi won a landmark legal battle in 2025 that expanded its regulated contract scope, positioning it well for this next step. Coinbase, already a CFTC-registered derivatives platform through Coinbase Derivatives Exchange, has lobbied for perpetual futures access for several years.

What's Next

Both Coinbase and Kalshi must still finalize specific contract terms and receive product-level sign-off before listing perpetuals for retail customers. As of June 2026, the timeline for live trading has not been publicly confirmed.