On May 29th, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) took two actions of significant meaning for the crypto market!

First, it approved KalshiEX to list the first genuinely regulated Bitcoin perpetual futures contract, ticker: BTC--PERP.

Second, it issued a no-action letter to Coinbase Financial Markets, allowing the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange to legally route American clients to Deribit, the crypto options platform.

That both events occurred on the same day is no coincidence—they represent a remarkably deliberate one-two punch.

To understand the significance, one must first grasp what a perpetual futures contract actually is. Traditional futures have a final expiration date, and quarterly contracts must settle on specific dates. Perpetual futures, however, have no expiration date—positions can be held indefinitely, with the only recurring cost being periodic funding rate payments.

For example, when the perpetual futures contract price is above the spot price, long position holders pay the funding rate to short sellers; and vice versa.

This funding rate mechanism keeps the contract price perpetually anchored near the spot price. Because there is no expiration, derivative perpetual futures contracts have become the deepest-liquidity, highest-trading-volume derivative financial instrument in the entire crypto market.

Kalshi's BTC--PERP

Now that the mechanics are clear, the CFTC's approval of Kalshi's BTC--PERP makes complete sense—it is the first federally regulated centralized prediction market and financial exchange to list a genuinely compliant perpetual futures contract: BTC--PERP.

BTC--PERP is listed on a CFTC-registered Designated Contract Market (DCM), tracks Bitcoin's spot price, has a contract unit of 0.0001 BTC, cash-settled, and supports 7x24 hour trading.

Prior to Kalshi, the U.S. crypto market had already seen two types of perpetual futures products, but neither received formal CFTC approval as true perpetual contracts.

• The first category: Bitnomial launched a BTC/USD perpetual futures contract via self-certification in April 2025. While it achieved a genuine perpetual concept (no expiration, 8-hour funding rate auto-adjustment), the CFTC did not proactively review or issue an approval document—meaning compliance risk was borne entirely by the exchange.

• The second category: Coinbase Derivatives launched the nano Bitcoin Perp Style Futures in July 2025. Though the product name carries "Perp," it is essentially a 5-year long-dated futures contract (expiring December 2030), merely using a funding rate mechanism to simulate perpetual contract price convergence with spot.

The CFTC-approved Kalshi BTC--PERP is entirely different from both—it is the first no-expiration perpetual futures contract formally reviewed and proactively approved under CFTC Rule 40.3, with an entirely different regulatory standing.

Kalshi has stated plans to launch a dozen cryptocurrency perpetual contracts on its platform, currently pending regulatory review, with launch timing unannounced.

The CFTC's approval order explicitly states that perpetual contract design is not suitable for all asset classes, and perpetual contracts for other assets will still require case-by-case review.

Coinbase's No-Action Letter

The largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, took a different path.

Coinbase Financial Markets (CFM) had already registered with the CFTC and obtained regulatory licensure back in August 2023.

The CFTC's no-action letter addressed a specific question:

Can Coinbase Financial Markets legally allow users to transfer Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoin holdings to affiliated offshore brokers as margin collateral?

The answer is yes—specifically via Coinbase Bermuda Limited to Deribit FZE. This means Coinbase has become the compliant gateway for U.S. institutional investors and eligible investors to access Deribit—without having to open offshore accounts themselves, they can directly trade Bitcoin and Ethereum perpetual futures and options on Deribit through Coinbase.

A brief note on Deribit: it is the world's largest Bitcoin and Ethereum options trading platform, commanding over 80% of the crypto options market. As of May 21, 2026, Deribit's Bitcoin options open interest stands at approximately $31.3 billion.

Conclusion

Looking back, the CFTC's two tracks are parallel: Kalshi represents the domestic listing route, while Coinbase represents the cross-border access route.

One launches compliant new products on U.S. soil via Kalshi; the other opens a compliant window for U.S. traders to access global markets via Coinbase.

This development rides the wave of the rapidly expanding U.S. regulated crypto derivatives market. The CFTC's timing in opening up crypto perpetual futures is indeed微妙 (delicate/precise).

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has stopped blocking crypto perpetual futures from the compliant perimeter—instead, it has threaded them into the U.S. regulatory framework via two distinct pathways: Kalshi and Coinbase.

However, on the same day, the CFTC also issued a regulatory policy statement on perpetual contract listings, explicitly noting that perpetual contracts for cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin still require review. It is clear the U.S. genuinely intends to see this through—but with measured, deliberate steps.

Disclaimer: Please readers strictly comply with local laws and regulations. This article is compiled based on publicly available market information for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice.