CME Group Sues CFTC Over Crypto Perpetual Futures

CME Group filed a lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and its chair, Michael Selig. The complaint asks the court to vacate a May 29 CFTC notice that approved perpetual futures tied to the spot price of Bitcoin for Kalshi and issued a no-action position for similar products on Coinbase.

The filing alleges the CFTC improperly treated perpetual futures as swaps, contrary to directives in the Commodity Exchange Act. CME argues the agency recharacterized contracts that it calls “futures” as “swaps,” and that the approvals bypass statutory requirements for those derivatives.

The complaint asserts Selig acted without a full five-member commission when he approved the notices. The filing states, “With one stroke of his pen, [Selig] overrode Congress’s definition of the term ‘swap’ and circumvented the regulatory regime Congress required for that form of derivative.” It adds that the CFTC’s approach “risks harming competition and destabilizing derivatives markets.”

A CFTC spokesperson dismissed the lawsuit as “lawfare” and labeled the complaint “frivolous.” In a recent interview, Selig defended the agency’s decisions, saying perpetual futures trade very similarly to other derivatives and noting that the Commodity Exchange Act does not define the term “futures contract.”

Perpetual futures are contracts that generally lack a fixed expiration date and are settled with reference to the price of an underlying asset. Regulators and market participants disagree on whether those contracts should fall under the traditional futures regime overseen by the CFTC or be regulated under swap rules. The lawsuit focuses on that legal distinction and on whether single-commissioner approvals are lawful for novel products.

The complaint names the agency and Selig and seeks a court order invalidating the CFTC notices and preventing further approvals under the same approach. The suit was filed one day after CME Chief Executive Terrence Duffy indicated the company would pursue legal action. Market firms have already begun offering perpetual futures in the U.S.; Kraken recently launched perpetual futures trading for U.S. users through a CFTC-regulated platform, and other exchanges have sought similar relief.

Selig was confirmed by the Senate in December 2025 and is the CFTC’s sole commissioner. The complaint notes that the commission is intended to have five members and that, as of the filing, no additional nominations had been announced.