Global crypto perpetual futures trading volume reached $61.7 trillion in 2025, marking a 29% increase from the previous year according to data provider CryptoQuant.
The Trump administration’s push to introduce perpetual futures to United States markets is facing resistance from traditional Wall Street exchanges, Reuters reported.
Perpetual futures, or perps, originated in offshore crypto markets. They never expire, trade continuously around the clock, and often feature high leverage of up to 50 times, drawing predominantly individual and retail investors.
Following the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s decision in May to formally approve US-listed crypto perps, financial technology firms such as Kalshi, Coinbase, and Robinhood entered the market.
The government regulator also approved single-stock equity perps. CFTC Chair Michael Selig stated that maintaining US oversight of this developing market is necessary to protect American investors.
The regulatory shift has triggered direct legal action from traditional exchange operators. CME Group filed a lawsuit against the CFTC to overturn its May decision, contending that the agency misclassified perpetual futures as futures contracts and downplayed associated risks.
CME Chief Executive Terry Duffy criticized the regulatory approach. I think they’ve muddied the waters here significantly,
Duffy said, according to Reuters. Anytime you have ambiguity in markets … that could hurt the business.
A separate lawsuit was filed by a group backed by Cboe Global Markets and Citadel Securities to reverse the single-stock equity perp approval on similar legal grounds.
Rob Hocking, Cboe’s global head of derivatives, pointed to competitive pressures. The industry is at an inflection point where product classification risks becoming a competitive tool,
Hocking said, adding that there needs to be a resolution in short order.
Incumbent exchanges argue that perps function more like swaps than futures because they lack an expiration date and involve ongoing funding payments between counterparties. Under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, swaps face stricter margin, capital, and reporting mandates.
In response to the litigation, a CFTC spokesperson characterized the Cboe-backed lawsuit as a troubling attempt to interfere with regulated markets.
The agency previously stated that CME chose lawfare
over competing directly in the new market.
Traditional market participants warn that futures-style margin requirements are insufficient for swap-like instruments. This mismatch could intensify counterparty and liquidity vulnerabilities during periods of severe market volatility.
Automated liquidation mechanisms, which close out leveraged positions when margins fall past required thresholds, can exacerbate selling pressure. Last year, similar auto-liquidation triggers contributed to the largest recorded liquidation of bitcoin positions.
The CFTC issued an advisory urging futures commission merchants to improve customer disclosures regarding auto-liquidation features during extended trading hours.
>
Continuous trading demands that exchanges, clearinghouses, brokers, and traders manage positions and fulfill margin calls around the clock. Industry executives note that while this model functions in pre-funded crypto markets, it creates severe operational complexities in larger asset classes where participants must transfer substantial cash and collateral outside conventional banking hours.
CME shelved a proposed 24/7 crude oil futures contract because commercial clients were unwilling to staff weekend trading desks. Thomas Restout, chief executive of institutional crypto market maker B2C2, noted the infrastructure gap. The traditional financial market infrastructure in the US is not yet fully equipped for true 24/7 markets,
Restout said.
Supporters of the administration’s policy argue that regulated domestic access prevents trading activity from migrating entirely offshore. Andy Ross, head of institutional business at Kalshi, defended the framework. I think it’s better for those products to trade transparently inside the US regulatory perimeter than for that activity to remain offshore,
Ross said.