CME Group stories

Jul 30, 2026

CME CEO Warns of Unresolved Tax Treatment for Crypto Perpetual Futures Amid Legal Classification Dispute

CME Group CEO Terry Duffy highlighted potential tax implications stemming from an ongoing legal battle over whether perpetual futures contracts should be classified as swaps or futures, a distinction that could affect how the IRS taxes these popular crypto derivatives.

Jul 30, 2026·1 source

Jun 19, 2026

CFTC and SEC Request Public Comment on Defining 'Swaps' Amid CME Lawsuit

The CFTC and SEC issued a joint request for comment on clarifying definitions of 'swaps' and 'security-based swaps,' including for perpetual futures and event contracts, the same day CME Group announced plans to sue the CFTC over approval of perpetual futures for Kalshi and Coinbase.

Jun 19, 2026·3 sources

Top claims

▪If perpetual contracts are classified as futures, institutional traders can utilize Section 1256 tax treatment, which taxes gains and losses as 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gains.
▪Unlike traditional futures, perpetual contracts never expire and require traders to periodically exchange funding payments to align the derivative's price with the underlying asset.
▪The Internal Revenue Service is not legally obligated to adopt the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's definitions of financial instruments for tax purposes.

Topics

Crypto market regulation Crypto taxation Crypto Crypto derivatives Crypto regulation

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Crypto regulatory agencies

Crypto regulatory frameworks

Securities vs. commodities

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