Less than a month after the CFTC approved crypto perpetual futures for US investors – contracts that let traders take leveraged positions on cryptocurrency prices with no expiry date – CME Group, a large traditional derivatives exchange, has filed a lawsuit challenging the approval, potentially delaying products that have long been available to traders outside the US.
CME Group Lawsuit Throws Spanner in Works for US-Based Crypto Perps Business
19 June 2026 - 13:20 CEST
By Isabelle Castro
In a complaint filed on 18 Jun in Washington D.C., CME alleged that the CFTC’s 29 May approval for the prediction market platform Kalshi to list crypto perpetual contracts causes it "textbook competitive injury." The exchange is seeking to overturn the approval, arguing that it unfairly allows new entrants to compete for retail derivatives business.
Question about swaps
CME argued in its complaint that perpetual contracts meet the definition of "swaps" under the Dodd-Frank Act - sweeping legislation enacted in 2010 to prevent a repeat of the subprime financial crisis and protect consumers - because they lack expiration dates, transfer price risk between parties, and convey no ownership in the underlying asset.
Speaking ahead of the lawsuit on 15 Jun, CFTC Chair Michael Selig told CNBC’s Fast Money that "it’s time to approve regulated futures contracts that have no expiration date… We’re going to make sure the product is available, but it’s well-regulated here in the US."
Shares of CME Group and other traditional exchanges fell to 2026 lows following news of Kalshi’s approval, with investors concerned that new platforms could pose a long-term competitive threat.
Perp race
Following the Kalshi approval, both Coinbase and Kraken launched their own CFTC-regulated perpetual futures for US customers.
"Even an institutional US customer hasn’t been able to trade perpetual futures from the US the way they trade their other derivative products," said John Palmer, who oversees global derivatives at Kraken.
Following the CFTC’s approval of Kalshi in late May, Kraken used its acquisition of the CFTC-regulated firm Bitnominal to launch perpetual futures on nine major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and Solana, on 15 Jun.
Driving business offshore
The long delay in approving these products has already pushed significant volume overseas. Perpetual futures account for around 90% of global crypto derivatives trading, with daily volumes frequently exceeding $50bn. According to CoinGecko, the top centralized exchanges processed $86.2tn in derivatives volume in 2025.
Many American traders have resorted to workarounds, such as using VPNs, to access offshore platforms.
"If you wanted to take the risks associated with it, you could find a path to trade non-US perpetuals via VPNs," Palmer told Sandmark. With the CFTC’s approval, he added, "You don’t need to take those risks. Now you can get that access" directly.
Pre-IPO perpetuals: when, not if, for the US
Kraken’s non-US customers can also trade pre-IPO perpetuals, starting with the much-anticipated SpaceX offering, which generated more than $3bn in trading volume outside the US. The exchange plans to expand into similar products tied to upcoming high-profile IPOs, including OpenAI and Anthropic – leaving US customers on the sidelines for now.
As for when US investors will gain access, the experience with crypto perps and the legal pushback from incumbents suggest it could still be some time away. That said, it’s ultimately a matter of when, not if, said Palmer.
"I would expect regular equity perps probably need to happen before pre-IPO perps," he said. Single-stock futures, he noted, have historically struggled to gain traction in the US due to limited demand.
For pre-IPO perps, demand is already visible. Trading volume jumped from $2mn in March to over $12bn in June, according to CryptoQuant data, representing 55% of all perpetual equity trading on crypto exchanges.
Having grown used to trading BTC perps offshore, traders are now looking to diversify. "It’s simple for them to use, and they say, ‘Why? Why can’t I trade it on oil? Why can’t I trade it on Anthropic?’" Palmer said. "It’s just the start of the game."
Risk or competition?
The dispute highlights a long-standing tension between innovation and investor protection. CME Group has argued that the combination of high leverage and automatic liquidations on crypto perpetual platforms exposes retail traders to significant risk, particularly if they do not fully understand how funding rates can quickly erode their positions.
At the same time, the CFTC’s decision brings a large, previously offshore market under US regulatory oversight. Chair Selig has rejected the idea that regulators should be overly restrictive simply because a product is complex.
"The notion that we should be paternalistic and allow for one type of product because it’s easier to understand, I think that’s frankly a misunderstanding itself," Selig said in the CNBC interview.
