CFTC Approves First Regulated Bitcoin Perpetual Contract in…

CFTC Chairman Mike Selig announced the agency has approved the listing of the first "true" Bitcoin perpetual contract on a CFTC-registered exchange — a landmark moment for crypto derivatives regulation in the United States. The approved product is Kalshi's BTCPERP contract, a perpetual futures instrument referencing Bitcoin's spot price.

In a separate but related move, CFTC staff confirmed that certain crypto perpetual contracts may be categorized as foreign futures, and issued no-action relief allowing Coinbase Financial Markets to use customer-owned digital assets and payment stablecoins as margin for crypto derivatives trading on affiliated platform Deribit, under specified conditions.

Together, the two developments signal a deliberate regulatory opening: perpetual contracts — long the dominant trading instrument in offshore crypto markets — are being brought inside the U.S.