Inside the CME and CFTC’s battle over onchain perpetual futures

Perps Week 2026Inside the CME and CFTC’s battle over onchain perpetual futures Weeks ago, the U.S. CFTC opened the gates for crypto perps with its first listing approval, but major derivatives player CME is fighting back against what it sees as a diversion from the law.By Ian Allison, Jesse Hamilton|Edited by Nikhilesh De, Cheyenne Ligon Jul 28, 2026, 4:00 am EDTPresented byIt’s highly unusual for the largest derivatives exchange operator in the U.S., the CME Group, to be at war with its regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) — but that's now happening in a situation brought about by the agency's decision to allow blockchain-based perpetual future products.Last month, the CME sued the CFTC and its chairman, Mike Selig, challenging his decision to let the prediction markets platform Kalshi and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN) list crypto perps, decentralized derivative contracts that allow users to speculate on the price of an asset with leverage and no expiration date.Now, both sides await federal court action that could have significant influence on how the U.S. approaches the rapidly growing arena, with non-U.S. perps volume reportedly growing to $60 trillion in volume last year.CME claims the agency is mislabeling the products, and therefore misapplying the law. Futures need an end date, and the products known as perps are designed for traders to be able to take a financial position on an asset's future without any deadlines. The lawsuit argues these perps are harmful to its long-dated futures products and alleges that the CFTC's sudden embrace of them did not consider the ramifications.Mounting tension between the two entities ramped up around the start of Iran conflict, which saw interest spike in perpetual contracts on oil prices traded 24/7 on off-shore decentralized finance (DeFi) exchanges like Hyperliquid, as well as blockchain prediction markets hosting trades tied to the oil markets.Those on the side of the CFTC’s reformin…

Inside the CME and CFTC’s battle over onchain perpetual futures

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