CFTC Opens Door to Perps Trading in the US
Posted by Colin Lambert. Last updated: June 1, 2026
US regulators have taken the first step towards onshoring the trillion-dollar industry that is perpetual futures trading, by approving Coinbase and prediction market operator Kalshi plans to launch perps contracts in the US.
Perpetual contracts – leveraged derivatives contracts without an expiry date that allow traders to maintain exposure without rolling – are the most liquid segment of crypto markets totalling $1 trillion with all the business outside the US. On Friday, regulators opened the door to onshoring the industry, after CFTC chairman Mike Selig promised to make this a priority.
On Friday, both Coinbase and Kalshi gained approval to launch perps in the US, after the CFTC’s Division of Clearing and Risk, Division of Market Oversight, and Market Participants Division published staff guidance citing growing interest in 24/7 trading, clearing and settlement. The guidance said the regulator would consider applications to launch perps trading in the US on a case-by-case basis.
Shortly after the announcement, CFTC Chairman Mike Selig tweeted that his organisation took “historic” action by permitting the listing of a Bitcoin perpetual contract, after he’d made it his priority to onshore the industry. Selig said the agency has managed “clearing the path for one of the most liquid segments of the crypto asset markets to exist within the US regulatory framework.”
