CFTC files to dismiss CME lawsuit over Kalshi's Bitcoin perpetual futures approval

The CFTC has asked a federal court to dismiss CME Group's lawsuit challenging the regulator's May 2026 approval of Kalshi's Bitcoin perpetual futures. Calling the suit "much ado about nothing," the CFTC argues CME Group lacks standing because it has suffered no concrete financial harm, noting that CME's own crypto futures volume rose after the order. CME Group contends that perpetuals are legally swaps and that the approval inflicts competitive injury, while the CFTC asserts CME's alleged injuries are self-inflicted.

CFTC dismissal motion filed

• ▪The Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed its motion to dismiss in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, calling CME Group's lawsuit "much ado about nothing."
• ▪The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a motion on September 2, 2026, asking a federal judge to dismiss CME Group's lawsuit challenging the approval of cryptocurrency perpetual futures.

CME lacks legal standing

• ▪The Commodity Futures Trading Commission argued that CME Group lacks constitutional standing because the exchange operator has not plausibly alleged concrete financial loss or competitive injury.
• ▪The Commodity Futures Trading Commission asserted that any competitive harm is self-inflicted because CME Group is legally permitted to list the same perpetual futures but has publicly stated its customers are not demanding them.
• ▪The Commodity Futures Trading Commission argued that reclassifying perpetual contracts as swaps would not remedy CME Group's alleged injury because Kalshi and other exchanges could simply continue offering them as swaps.

Futures versus swaps classification

• ▪CME Group accused the Commodity Futures Trading Commission of failing to explain its departure from prior enforcement actions against Binance, BitMEX, and KuCoin, where the regulator classified crypto perpetuals as swaps.
• ▪The Commodity Futures Trading Commission maintains that perpetual futures are legally classified as futures, and that CME Group's lawsuit seeks to use the Commodity Exchange Act to stifle market competition and innovation.
• ▪CME Group's lawsuit, filed on June 18, 2026, argues that cryptocurrency contracts without an expiration date or delivery obligation that exchange funding payments are legally swaps rather than futures.

Kalshi Bitcoin perpetual approval

• ▪Kalshi launched its Bitcoin perpetual contract on June 3, 2026, generating over $100 million in first-day volume and reaching $1 billion in notional volume within approximately one week.
• ▪The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued an order on May 29, 2026, approving Kalshi's BTCPERP contract as a cash-settled futures contract tracking Bitcoin's spot price with no expiration date.

CME trading volume data

• ▪CME Group's original complaint claimed that the regulatory approval of Kalshi's contracts caused "textbook competitive injury" that could erode CME Group's cryptocurrency futures revenue.
• ▪The Commodity Futures Trading Commission pointed to CME Group's own monthly trading data showing that CME Group's bitcoin and ether futures volumes rose in June and August compared to May 2026.

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