Regulators seek comment on crypto perpetuals classification

The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission on June 18 opened a 60-day public comment period to seek input on how to classify crypto perpetuals, related swaps, mixed swaps and event contracts. The agencies asked whether continuously traded, cash-settled crypto contracts should be treated as futures, swaps, security-based swaps, foreign futures or another category.

The request addresses product definitions under Title VII of Dodd-Frank and asks for details on venue eligibility, margin and liquidation rules, reporting obligations and retail access. The agencies also sought feedback on event contracts, innovative product structures, exclusions from the swap definition, mixed swaps, futures treatment and potential alternative compliance paths. Comments will be public after the notice appears in the Federal Register and remain open for 60 days.

The issue accelerated after the CFTC on May 29 approved KalshiEX’s BTCPERP contract as a futures product following a May 28 submission under Regulation 40.3. The BTCPERP contract is cash-settled, references the spot price of Bitcoin, has no fixed expiration, is marked to market continuously and uses funding payments to align with the reference price. The CME has filed a lawsuit challenging the CFTC approval.

Also on that date CFTC staff confirmed a foreign-futures pathway for certain crypto-asset perpetuals tied to an affiliate of Coinbase Financial Markets that operates on the Deribit platform and issued no-action relief for transfers of customer-owned crypto and stablecoin margin. The developments point to multiple regulatory routes, including onshore futures approvals, foreign-board access and classifications as swaps or security-linked instruments, each with different compliance obligations.

In March the agencies issued a harmonization memorandum committing to coordinate on product definitions, data sharing, alternative compliance and cross-market oversight while preserving each agency’s statutory authority. The June 18 request creates a cross-agency comment file for resolving where new products fall between markets historically regulated separately.

On June 10 the CFTC published a proposal to create a structured review process for event contracts tied to specified activities such as gaming, unlawful activity, war, terrorism or assassination. Event contracts and crypto perpetuals can be offered by the same venues, prompting questions about federal versus state jurisdiction, gambling regulation and market integrity requirements.

Market participants expected to submit comments include incumbent exchanges, trade groups, crypto-native venues, prediction-market operators, clearing firms, market makers, state regulators, gaming groups and investor-protection organizations. The Futures Industry Association and FIA Principal Traders Group argued in a 2025 filing that perpetuals raise novel clearing and risk-management questions and urged clearer definitions and a formal public process.

The agencies asked for examples and evidence on how particular classifications would affect liquidity, price discovery and hedging. The comment file offers an administrative avenue for parties to present technical and operational detail before future approvals, litigation or individual listing decisions.