The CFTC just told the world's biggest derivatives exchange: you can't even show a dollar of harm.
In a 31-page reply brief filed Friday, the agency asked a federal court to toss CME's lawsuit over crypto perpetual futures. Its Exhibit A is CME's own trading data: monthly bitcoin futures volume rose from 259,329 contracts in May to 267,693 in September, ether from 326,981 to 378,292 — up, not down, since the CFTC greenlit Kalshi's BTCPERP on May 29. It even quoted CME's chairman telling investors in July there's no customer demand for perps: "you cannot have it one way with the court and another way with the investing public."
The bigger stakes: CME wants perps classified as swaps, not futures — different margin, registration, and tax rules. If this case dies on standing, perps keep growing under the futures framework without that classification question ever answered. CryptoQuant puts Binance's 2025 perp volume alone at roughly $25 trillion.
Does a US-regulated perp market level the field — or just reward whoever litigates best? NFA. DYOR.
$BTC $ETH #Regulation
In a 31-page reply brief filed Friday, the agency asked a federal court to toss CME's lawsuit over crypto perpetual futures. Its Exhibit A is CME's own trading data: monthly bitcoin futures volume rose from 259,329 contracts in May to 267,693 in September, ether from 326,981 to 378,292 — up, not down, since the CFTC greenlit Kalshi's BTCPERP on May 29. It even quoted CME's chairman telling investors in July there's no customer demand for perps: "you cannot have it one way with the court and another way with the investing public."
The bigger stakes: CME wants perps classified as swaps, not futures — different margin, registration, and tax rules. If this case dies on standing, perps keep growing under the futures framework without that classification question ever answered. CryptoQuant puts Binance's 2025 perp volume alone at roughly $25 trillion.
Does a US-regulated perp market level the field — or just reward whoever litigates best? NFA. DYOR.
$BTC $ETH #Regulation