US CFTC approves first bitcoin perpetual futures contracts for regulated exchange

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission gave KalshiEX the green light on May 29 to list a bitcoin perpetual futures contract, making it the first product of its kind to receive formal CFTC approval on a regulated American exchange.

Perpetual futures, or “perps,” are derivative contracts that let traders bet on the price of an asset without an expiration date. They’re the most popular way to trade crypto with leverage, and they’ve generated $61.7 trillion in global trading volume in 2025 alone.

Nearly all of that volume has flowed through offshore exchanges like Binance, Bybit, and OKX, platforms that operate outside the reach of US regulators.

The road to formal approval

Bitnomial Exchange self-certified BTC/USD perpetual futures back in April 2025, with trading going live on April 28 of that year. Self-certification is a lighter regulatory process where an exchange tells the CFTC it believes a product complies with its rules, and the agency can choose not to object.

Coinbase Derivatives followed a similar path, self-certifying nano Bitcoin and Ether perpetual futures that became effective on July 21, 2025.

KalshiEX’s BTCPERP is the first to receive an actual stamp of approval from the commission, not just a nod of non-objection. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig announced in March 2026 that the agency was planning to introduce “true perpetual futures” in the US within months.

KalshiEX has been a CFTC-registered designated contract market since 2020, originally focused on event contracts. The pivot to crypto derivatives represents a significant expansion of the platform’s ambitions.

What this means for the market

The approval creates a credible alternative for regulated institutions, asset managers, and funds that can’t touch offshore platforms for compliance reasons. Bitcoin spot ETFs after their approval in January 2024 attracted billions in capital from investors who wanted Bitcoin exposure but needed a regulated vehicle to get it.

KalshiEX now has first-mover advantage on formal approval, but Coinbase Derivatives and Bitnomial are already offering self-certified versions of similar products. Coinbase Derivatives has already self-certified Ether perps, suggesting expansion into other assets could follow quickly.

Regulated exchanges typically impose position limits, margin requirements, and know-your-customer rules that offshore platforms don’t. The funding rate mechanism that keeps perpetual futures prices aligned with spot markets has occasionally gone haywire during periods of extreme volatility on offshore exchanges, and how regulated platforms manage this mechanic will be a key variable in determining whether these products attract sustained volume.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.