The CFTC on Friday approved KalshiEX, LLC's BTCPERP contract — the first true bitcoin perpetual futures product on a U.S. regulated designated contract market. In a separate action, the agency granted no-action relief to Coinbase Financial Markets, letting the exchange offer digital commodity derivatives and connect U.S. customers to offshore venues like Deribit. The twin moves mark the clearest signal yet that Washington is shifting from enforcement-first to structured onshoring of crypto markets.
Bitcoin perpetuals land on a U.S. exchange
KalshiEX's BTCPERP contract cleared the CFTC's review, becoming the first product of its kind allowed on a U.S. designated contract market. CFTC Chair Michael Selig called the approval a historic action that permits a true bitcoin perpetual contract within the U.S. regulatory framework. Perpetual futures — contracts with no expiration date — have been the dominant derivatives product on offshore platforms but were effectively unavailable to U.S. retail users under existing rules.
Coinbase gets the green light
The no-action relief to Coinbase Financial Markets is broader than a single product approval. It allows the exchange, operating as a CFTC-registered futures commission merchant, to offer digital commodity derivatives and give U.S. customers access to offshore venues like Deribit. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said U.S. users had previously been shut out of roughly 80% of global crypto markets — specifically perpetual futures and options. This move opens that door under a regulated FCM structure.
A shift in regulatory philosophy
The CFTC's actions aren't happening in a vacuum. Earlier this year, the CFTC and SEC jointly outlined a new taxonomy for crypto assets. The SEC is preparing a broad tokenization rule set. And Paxos secured approval to clear U.S. equities on blockchain rails. Meanwhile, the CFTC's Division of Clearing and Risk, Division of Market Oversight, and Market Participants Division issued a staff advisory on 24/7 trading, clearing, and settlement of derivatives — a nod to the round-the-clock markets blockchain enables. Chair Selig and the Trump administration have steered the agency away from enforcement-driven deterrence toward this kind of structured onshoring.
With the KalshiEX approval and Coinbase relief in the books, the SEC's tokenization rule set remains the next big piece of the puzzle. Paxos's approval to clear equities on blockchain suggests the infrastructure is falling into place. For now, U.S. traders who spent years watching offshore volumes pile up can start accessing those markets through a regulated channel — if their broker of choice moves quickly to offer the products.
