The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has approved the country’s first bitcoin perpetual futures contract to trade on a regulated U.S. exchange — a landmark move that brings a product long dominated by offshore platforms onto American soil. What changed - The CFTC said Friday it had authorized an unnamed regulated exchange to list and trade bitcoin perpetual futures, ending the effective offshore monopoly on these high-volume derivative instruments. The agency has signaled for months that it would press to onshore perpetuals, which allow traders to hold positions indefinitely via a funding-rate mechanism rather than a fixed expiry. Why it matters - Perpetual futures have been the backbone of offshore crypto derivatives since 2016, accounting for more than 70% of centralized-exchange volume. In 2025, perpetual trading reached $61.7 trillion, a 29% increase versus 2024. Bringing these contracts to a U.S. regulated venue could shift liquidity, price discovery and risk-management activity back to domestic markets. Regulatory messaging - CFTC Chairman Mike Selig framed the move as foundational for risk management and price discovery in crypto, saying in an opinion piece at CoinDesk that having true perpetual contracts in the U.S. is “a major step forward” toward making America a global crypto hub. Selig has also said the agency’s approach will aim to limit excessive leverage, volatility and systemic risk. - The announcement follows public commentary from President Donald Trump arguing previous policy drove crypto activity offshore; Selig previously noted he wanted to repair regulatory choices that had pushed firms and liquidity overseas. Who might be involved - The CFTC did not name the approved exchange. Industry observers noted that prediction-market platform Kalshi announced plans in April to launch perpetual futures after securing a CFTC margin trading license. Kalshi said its product — internally codenamed “Timeless” — would initially offer U.S. dollar collateral and at least 10x leverage on Bitcoin, with BTC-denominated trading to follow; it had planned an April 27 New York launch. Rival Polymarket also entered the perpetuals space in April, underscoring rising competition to capture derivatives flow. Caveats and next steps - The CFTC’s decision was issued as agency guidance rather than through formal rulemaking, which means future commissioners could revisit the policy absent congressional action. The approval also comes amid broader regulatory changes under the current administration, including closer SEC–CFTC coordination on crypto taxonomy and expanded frameworks for tokenized collateral. Bottom line - Approving perpetuals for a regulated U.S. exchange is a significant step toward repatriating a large slice of crypto derivatives activity. Market participants will be watching which exchange launched the product, how leverage and funding-rate rules are implemented, and whether onshore liquidity and risk controls follow. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news