The market for perpetual crypto futures grew to over $90T in annual offshore volume by 2025. Until this week, US investors had no regulated domestic way to access it.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved Kalshi's bitcoin perpetual futures contract and cleared Coinbase to route US customers into offshore perpetuals through a Bermuda-based affiliate. The move brings a massive, previously unregulated market under domestic oversight for the first time.

What a perpetual futures contract is

A perpetual futures contract, or "perp," tracks the price of an underlying asset with no expiration date. Unlike traditional futures, traders don't need to roll contracts over when they expire.

Instead, funding payments are exchanged between buyers and sellers at regular intervals to keep the perp price aligned with the spot market. Kalshi said its funding rates update every eight hours and will be visible in transaction history.

The contracts also permit high degrees of leverage. Per Reuters, leverage on perps can reach as high as 50-to-1, meaning a small adverse price move can eliminate an entire position.

While Kalshi won direct CFTC approval for its bitcoin perpetual contract, Coinbase is taking an offshore route by offering Deribit's perpetuals to US customers through a Bermuda-based affiliate.

The CFTC also issued a policy statement requiring case-by-case review for any new perpetual products referencing assets beyond those already approved.

Why this market is significant

Offshore perpetual futures volume grew from $28T in annual volume in 2023 to over $90T in 2025, per Kalshi data cited by CNBC. That growth happened entirely outside the reach of US regulators.

US institutions have often had to access the market indirectly, through offshore platforms operating outside domestic oversight, CNBC reported. The CFTC approval creates a formal onshore framework for the first time.

Total perpetual futures trading volume hit $61.7T in 2025, up 29% year-over-year according to market data provider CryptoQuant, per Reuters. The contracts gained mainstream attention earlier this year when traders used decentralized platforms to bet on oil prices during weekends, when traditional markets were closed.

Polymarket is developing a similar perps offering, per CNBC, while Hyperliquid already offers perpetuals on a decentralized exchange — though US residents cannot access it.

Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour said regulated access addresses a structural gap: "Onshore, safe, and regulated perps will improve capital allocation and risk management for countless American businesses."

CFTC Chairman Mike Selig described the Kalshi approval as "a major step forward in delivering on President Trump's goal of cementing America as the crypto capital of the world," according to Quartz.

The risks and the regulatory caveat

Critics have flagged serious risks for retail participants. Because leverage magnifies losses rapidly, even minor price moves against a position can wipe it out entirely, per Reuters. Experts say the instruments require a level of sophistication that individual investors don't always possess.

The CFTC's current position on perpetuals also rests on approvals and guidance rather than codified regulation. Per Quartz, that makes the framework potentially reversible if agency leadership changes before Congress or the commission formalizes the rules.