The CME Group has announced plans to take legal action against the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over its approval of Bitcoin perpetual futures in the United States. The disagreement centers on how these contracts should be classified under U.S. financial law.
CEO Terrence Duffy told CNBC that the company intends to file a lawsuit, arguing that perpetual futures should legally be treated as swaps under the Dodd Frank Act rather than standard futures contracts.
CME argues perpetuals fall under swap rules
Duffy said CME believes perpetual contracts are more accurately defined as swaps. He added that because of CME’s exclusive licensing agreements tied to benchmark pricing, any provider offering such products would need to operate through the exchange.
He explained that these agreements effectively give CME control over benchmark access, meaning perpetual futures tied to those benchmarks would still fall under its ecosystem.
Perpetual futures are derivative contracts that do not expire, allowing traders to speculate on price movements without owning the underlying asset.
Regulatory approval and market expansion
The dispute follows the CFTC’s May decision to approve Kalshi to offer Bitcoin perpetual futures, marking the first time such a product has been authorized for the U.S. market. These instruments are already widely used in global crypto trading and Kalshi has indicated plans to expand offerings to include additional cryptocurrencies.
Last year, Coinbase also introduced similar derivatives to U.S. investors through its Coinbase Financial Markets division.
CME prepares for legal fight
Duffy said CME has been preparing for the legal challenge with its board for about eight months and is fully ready to proceed.
He stated that the company is not avoiding confrontation and emphasized that the lawsuit will be filed immediately, describing the issue as one CME is taking seriously.
CFTC defends its decision
Michael Selig has defended the regulator’s approval of perpetual futures, explaining that the goal is to allow innovative derivative products without expiration dates to be traded domestically under proper U.S. regulatory oversight.#crypto#cryptonews https://coinsignals.net https://t.me/coinsignalpublic
