Bitnomial launches US-regulated Injective monthly futures

Chicago-based derivatives exchange Bitnomial on Wednesday launched monthly futures contracts that settle in Injective’s native token INJ. The contracts are the first U.S.-regulated futures product tied to Injective and begin a six-month trading record.

The contracts expire monthly and can be margined in crypto or U.S. dollars through Bitnomial’s clearinghouse, allowing traders to take price exposure without holding the underlying token. Institutional clients have immediate access. Retail trading is expected to roll out in the coming weeks on Bitnomial’s Botanical platform. The firm also plans to list perpetual futures and options tied to INJ at a later date.

The six-month track record may meet listing criteria used in a spot exchange-traded fund application. In July, an asset manager filed for a staked INJ ETF and a related rule change was submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Injective is a Layer 1 blockchain built for financial applications. It uses an on-chain order book and has cross-chain links with networks including Ethereum and Solana.

Bitnomial operates a trading venue, clearinghouse and brokerage for crypto futures and options and is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The firm previously listed U.S.-regulated monthly futures tied to Aptos in January.

In August 2024 Bitnomial moved to list XRP futures through CFTC self-certification, and the SEC challenged the plan on grounds it could require securities exchange registration. The firm filed a lawsuit in October 2025, dropped it the following March, and launched regulated XRP futures for U.S. users that month.

U.S.-regulated crypto futures remain concentrated in Bitcoin and Ether, though exchanges and brokers have gradually expanded altcoin offerings. One large exchange began offering CFTC-regulated Bitcoin and Ether futures to institutional clients in mid-2023, expanded to retail-sized contracts in 2025 and added round-the-clock trading. In May, a crypto firm acquired a regulated futures platform for about $1.5 billion to gain a registered Futures Commission Merchant.

Bitnomial’s INJ futures add to a small but growing set of U.S.-regulated derivatives tied to alternative tokens and provide another channel for institutional-and soon retail-traders to gain price exposure while creating a regulated trading history that may be relevant to future ETF reviews.