CFTC Files to Dismiss CME Lawsuit over Crypto Perpetual Futures
Ecosystem: English | News: Markets | Magazine: Research | Commissioned | About: DOGE, TRX, LINK, ZEC, ADA, XRP, ETH, BTC, XMR, BNB, XLM, SOL, HYPE
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Written by: Turner Wright, staff writer | Reviewed by: Sam Bourgi, staff writer
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a motion to dismiss a civil suit brought by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group, arguing that CME lacks standing to challenge the CFTC’s treatment of cryptocurrency "futures" as "swaps." The CFTC claims that any exchange, not just CME, can list perpetual futures on digital assets.
In June, CME sued the CFTC over its approval of perpetual futures contracts tied to Bitcoin (BTC) for Kalshi and a no-action position for similar products on Coinbase. CME argued that CFTC Chair Michael Selig acted unilaterally without a full panel of commissioners, contradicting the Commodity Exchange Act by classifying "futures" as "swaps."
The CFTC’s lawyers called the lawsuit "much ado about nothing," stating:
CME claims to be injured by a CFTC order authorizing ’perpetual futures contracts’ on digital assets like bitcoin… as well as a policy statement concerning perpetual futures more generally… CME does not argue that it could not list this same type of futures contract.
They further added:
… CME has not alleged, and cannot plausibly allege, that it suffered a financial injury from the CFTC’s authorization of perpetual futures contracts. CME therefore lacks standing.