On 29 May 2026, the CFTC issued Order for Approval 9240-26 authorising KalshiEX LLC, a CFTC-registered designated contract market, to list the BTCPERP Contract, a bitcoin perpetual futures contract. Concurrently, CFTC staff issued Release 9241-26, a no-action letter confirming that certain crypto asset perpetuals referencing non-security assets qualify as foreign futures under the Commodity Exchange Act, and permitting futures commission merchants to transfer customer crypto margin to foreign brokers. These are the first perpetual crypto contracts admitted to a CFTC-regulated exchange in the United States.
The BTCPERP approval proceeds under Section 5c(c)(1) of the Commodity Exchange Act, which governs DCM self-certification and Commission review of new product listings. The joint SEC-CFTC interpretation, published as SEC Release 2026-30, applies the Howey test to distinguish crypto assets that are securities from those that are commodities. The CFTC no-action relief in Release 9241-26 covers only perpetuals on assets classified as non-securities under the joint interpretation.
Centralised and decentralised exchanges offering perpetual contracts to U.S. retail or institutional clients face a binary compliance choice: onshore as a CFTC-registered DCM, or operate under the foreign-exchange no-action parameters with the required margin transfer obligations. Spot trading platforms holding crypto asset inventories must map each asset against the securities/commodity classification in the joint interpretation before offering derivatives on it. Registered investment advisers, broker-dealers, and futures commission merchants must re-examine customer agreements and custody arrangements against the margin transfer requirements in Release 9241-26.
The joint interpretation does not address stablecoins, wrapped tokens, or assets currently under active SEC enforcement proceedings. Exchange-traded products on bitcoin and ether already approved by the SEC sit outside the scope of the new no-action relief. The CFTC policy statement on perpetual contracts published for public comment on 29 May 2026 may result in further rule changes before the onshore perpetual contract regime is fully operational.
Licentium advises on CFTC and SEC registration pathways, product compliance for digital asset derivatives, and cross-border market access structures. We may advise on this matter or refer you to our partner network for specialised counsel. Work we undertake includes commodity pool operator registration, designated contract market applications, broker-dealer and investment adviser compliance reviews, and crypto asset securities classification analysis.
Source: CFTC Press Release 9240-26, CFTC Approves BTCPERP Contract, 29 May 2026