A historic shift in US crypto regulation has opened the door for regulated perpetual futures trading. The CFTC approved KalshiEX’s Bitcoin perpetual contract, the first of its kind on a US-regulated exchange. Simultaneously, the agency cleared a path for a Coinbase affiliate to connect US customers to options and perps via Deribit.
Markets surged on the news. Hyperliquid established a new all-time high, outperforming Bitcoin by 270% on the year. Coinbase gained 4%, and Robinhood rose 11%.
The CFTC is creating separate pathways for domestic and offshore perpetuals. This marks the most consequential crypto regulatory action since the Bitcoin ETF approval.
Meanwhile, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon publicly clashed with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong over the Clarity Act, accusing him of being "full of shit" regarding stablecoin yield carve-outs.
In another development, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed the US has seized roughly $1 billion in crypto assets from Iran, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT, marking the largest such seizure from a hostile state actor since 2022.