Regulated perpetuals expand for US crypto traders

TLDR

Regulators in the United States have just opened the door for onshore, CFTC?supervised crypto perpetual futures, and major venues are rushing to launch.

1. The CFTC has approved domestically listed Bitcoin perpetual futures, with Kalshi live and Coinbase and Kraken building regulated access routes for U.S. clients.
2. This lets eligible U.S. traders access perps without offshore entities, reducing legal and counterparty risk but under tighter leverage and compliance rules.
3. Next, watch which assets get approved beyond BTC, how leverage caps evolve, and whether regulated perps gain enough liquidity to compete with offshore venues.

Deep Dive

1. What Has Actually Changed

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued a policy and product approvals that explicitly allow crypto perpetual futures to be offered onshore to U.S. customers under CFTC rules.

Kalshi has received CFTC approval to list a Bitcoin perpetual futures contract (BTCPERP), described as the first domestically regulated crypto perp in the U.S. market. This is highlighted in a detailed overview of crypto perps in the U.S..

Kraken plans to offer CFTC?regulated Bitcoin perpetuals within about 30 days via Bitnomial, a CFTC?licensed exchange it acquired, targeting eligible U.S. institutional clients on Kraken Pro, as reported by Cointelegraph and crypto.news.

Coinbase Financial Markets has opened a regulated route for U.S. institutions to access global crypto options and perps through its Deribit affiliate, with certain contracts treated as foreign futures under CFTC conditions, according to crypto.news.

Perpetuals are futures with no expiry; funding payments between longs and shorts keep prices anchored to spot.

2. Why This Matters For U.S. Traders

For years, most of the estimated tens of trillions in yearly perp volume has traded offshore, forcing many U.S. traders to use foreign entities or unregulated venues, increasing counterparty and legal risk. A review notes perps volume hit about $61.7 trillion in 2025, with the majority offshore, and that U.S. traders relied on workarounds, a gap these new products aim to fill, per Finance Magnates.

With CFTC?supervised venues, traders that qualify (initially mostly institutional, and potentially some well?screened retail) can get perp exposure under U.S. law, with stricter margin, capital, and reporting standards than typical offshore exchanges.

Leverage will likely be lower than the 50x to 100x often seen offshore, but that tradeoff comes with clearer protections around segregation of funds, dispute resolution, and surveillance for market abuse.

3. What To Watch Next

The CFTC has said perpetuals referencing other assets will be reviewed case by case rather than granted blanket approval, so expansion beyond BTC (and possibly a small set of majors) will be gradual, as noted in policy coverage.

Regulators also issued guidance on how 24/7 trading, clearing, and settlement should operate for crypto derivatives, which will shape margin models, risk controls, and possibly opening hours on these new markets.

Internationally, Europe is considering treating perps as contracts for difference with much tighter leverage caps and restrictions, while the U.S. is moving toward supervised access. That divergence, highlighted in cross?region analysis, could influence where global liquidity congregates.

Conclusion

The expansion of regulated crypto perpetuals in the U.S. marks a structural shift from offshore workarounds toward domestically supervised derivatives markets. For U.S. traders, that means a clearer tradeoff between maximum leverage and regulatory safety. How quickly products expand beyond Bitcoin, and whether liquidity follows, will decide how much of global perp price discovery migrates onshore.