US regulators open crypto perps review

• The SEC and CFTC have launched a joint public consultation on how crypto perpetual futures and other novel derivatives products should be classified.
• The review could influence which regulators oversee crypto perpetuals and what compliance requirements apply to exchanges.
• Industry participants now have a formal opportunity to shape future rules governing crypto derivatives and prediction-market products.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission have opened a joint consultation on crypto perpetual futures and other derivatives products, a move that could influence how Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) perpetual contracts are regulated in the United States.

The request for comment follows recent debates over whether crypto perpetuals should be classified as futures, swaps, security-based swaps or other financial products under existing US laws.

The agencies are seeking feedback on product definitions, event contracts, alternative compliance frameworks and innovative market structures before determining how future products should be treated.

The consultation comes weeks after the CFTC approved KalshiEX's BTCPERP contract, a cash-settled Bitcoin-linked perpetual futures product that has become a focal point in the broader classification debate.

Questions over product labels have significant implications because classification can determine which regulator oversees a contract, where it can be listed and what compliance obligations apply; following the announcement the share prices of the companies involved were unavailable.

The review also extends to event contracts, prediction markets and hybrid financial products that combine characteristics traditionally governed under different regulatory frameworks.

Industry participants, exchanges, market makers, crypto platforms and investor-protection groups have 60 days after publication in the Federal Register to submit comments that could influence future US crypto derivatives policy.

At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $63,700.81.