The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has greenlit the nation’s first bitcoin perpetual futures contract on a regulated exchange, marking a watershed moment for domestic crypto derivatives trading.
Summary
- CFTC approved first-ever bitcoin perpetual futures contract on regulated U.S. platform
- Chairman Mike Selig says move delivers on President Trump’s goal to make America “crypto capital of the world”
- Perpetual futures previously dominated offshore exchanges with over 70% of centralized trading volume
The CFTC announced Friday it had approved an unnamed regulated exchange to list and trade bitcoin perpetual futures contracts, ending the offshore monopoly on these high-volume derivatives instruments. The approval follows months of signals from CFTC leadership that the agency would move aggressively to onshore crypto perpetuals, which allow traders to speculate on Bitcoin (BTC) price movements indefinitely without expiration dates.
“Having true perpetual contracts in the United States is a major step forward in delivering on President Trump’s goal of cementing America as the crypto capital of the world,” CFTC Chairman Mike Selig wrote in an opinion piece published Friday at CoinDesk. Selig argued the contracts represent “a foundational risk management and price discovery tool in the global crypto asset markets”.
Regulatory Shift Under Trump Administration
The announcement comes days after President Donald Trump posted on social media that the previous administration “nearly DESTROYED the American Crypto Industry by driving Bitcoin, Crypto Perpetuals, and INNOVATION offshore, but ‘TRUMP’ SAVED IT”. Selig echoed this sentiment in March, stating he aimed to repair damage that “drove a lot of these firms and the liquidity offshore”.
Perpetual futures contracts differ from traditional futures by having no expiration date, allowing positions to remain open indefinitely through a funding rate mechanism that keeps contract prices aligned with spot prices. These instruments have dominated offshore crypto trading since 2016, with perpetuals accounting for over 70% of centralized exchange volume. In 2025, perpetual futures trading volume reached $61.7 trillion, up 29% from 2024.
Kalshi and Polymarket Race for Market Share
While the CFTC did not identify which exchange received approval, prediction market platform Kalshi had announced plans to launch cryptocurrency perpetual futures in April, with co-founder Luana Lopes Lara celebrating regulatory progress since December 2024. Kalshi secured a CFTC margin trading license and scheduled an April 27 launch event in New York City for its perpetual futures product, internally codenamed “Timeless”.
The platform planned to offer at least 10x leverage on Bitcoin and other assets, with U.S. dollar collateral at launch and Bitcoin trading to follow. Rival platform Polymarket also entered the perpetual futures market in April, intensifying competition for the lucrative derivatives sector.
Selig wrote Friday that the CFTC’s approach would “limit excessive leverage, volatility and systemic risk”. The announcement carries weight as agency guidance rather than formal rulemaking, meaning future CFTC leadership could reverse the policy without congressional action. The shift aligns with broader CFTC regulatory changes under the Trump administration, including joint SEC-CFTC coordination on crypto asset taxonomy and expanded tokenized collateral frameworks.
