Trump administration's embrace of “perp” futures sets off risk alarms for Wall Street stalwarts
CME•The Trump administration's push to bring perpetual futures to the US is raising concerns among incumbent exchanges and market participants about risks to derivatives markets. The CFTC approved crypto perps in May and single-stock equity perps last week; crypto perps trading volume reached $61.7 trillion in 2025, up 29% from 2024.
1. Exchanges challenge approvals
The CFTC's approvals have prompted legal challenges from CME Group and a group representing Cboe Global Markets and Citadel Securities. CME is suing to overturn the May decision, while the group sued last week over the equity-perp approval, arguing the products have been wrongly classified as futures rather than swaps.
2. Risks of continuous trading
Perpetual futures do not expire and trade around the clock. They are usually leveraged, sometimes by as much as 50 times, and executives warn that futures-style margin rules may not adequately address counterparty and liquidity risks; automatic liquidations could amplify market stress.
3. Markets expand beyond crypto
The products, pioneered in non-US crypto markets, are expanding into other assets. Kalshi's head of institutional business, Andy Ross, said he favors trading them transparently within the US regulatory perimeter, while other market participants warned that US financial infrastructure is not fully equipped for 24/7 markets.
