Overview
- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved Kalshi’s bitcoin perpetual contract and issued coordinated guidance on May 29 that lays out how perpetual futures can be listed and supervised in the United States.
- CFTC staff also published a 24/7 trading and clearing advisory and granted an interpretive/no‑action position allowing certain Deribit‑style perpetuals to be offered to U.S. customers through Coinbase Financial Markets under specific conditions.
- CME Group began 24/7 trading for its cryptocurrency futures and options on May 29 and recorded inaugural weekend activity of more than 7,200 contracts, roughly $50 million in notional value.
- Exchanges are responding rapidly: Kalshi filed to certify a broad slate of altcoin perpetuals on June 1 and Kraken says it plans to offer CFTC‑regulated bitcoin perps to eligible U.S. institutional clients within about 30 days, though those launches remain subject to review or final approval.
- Bringing perpetuals onshore promises regulated access for U.S. traders and could shift offshore liquidity to domestic venues, but it also raises unresolved operational challenges for real‑time margining, cross‑time‑zone surveillance, next‑business‑day settlement conventions and on‑chain privacy for market participants.