The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has approved the first bitcoin perpetual futures contract on a registered U.S. exchange. The regulator granted KalshiEX, a designated contract market, a green light via an Order for Approval this week. Until now, American traders who wanted access to these cash-settled derivatives had to go through offshore platforms operating outside direct U.S. oversight.
A new venue for a popular product
Bitcoin perpetual futures are a staple of crypto trading — they have no expiration date and use a funding rate to keep the contract price close to the spot market. They've been widely available on exchanges like Binance, Bybit, and Deribit, but none of those are registered with the CFTC as designated contract markets. That left U.S. retail and institutional traders either shut out or forced into gray-market workarounds. The KalshiEX approval changes that dynamic.
KalshiEX gets the nod
KalshiEX already operates as a regulated venue for event-based contracts. The CFTC's order specifically authorizes the exchange to list a bitcoin perpetual future, subject to the conditions laid out in the approval. The agency didn't name other applicants in the announcement, making KalshiEX the first mover under this framework.
Ending the offshore detour
The practical effect is straightforward: U.S. traders can now trade a perpetual contract on a venue that reports to the CFTC, complies with capital and surveillance requirements, and offers customer protections that offshore exchanges don't match. The timing isn't incidental — the crypto market has been pushing for regulated derivatives access for years, and the CFTC's move answers that demand without requiring a new law.
What comes next is the launch. KalshiEX hasn't announced a go-live date yet, but the approval is the hard part. Once trading begins, other registered exchanges will be watching closely. If the product gains traction, the CFTC may see more applications — and the offshore monopoly on perpetuals may finally start to crack.
