U.S. derivatives market opens to perpetual bitcoin contracts

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US bitcoin perpetual contracts

Highlights

The CFTC has approved the first U.S.-listed perpetual bitcoin contract, following increased offshore interest driven by platforms like Hyperliquid.
WTI and Brent crude contracts make up nearly half of trades on Hyperliquid since 2023, reflecting a shift toward speculation on real-world assets amid recent volatility.
Traditional exchanges and crypto platforms like Kalshi and Coinbase are entering the perpetuals market, responding to rapid growth and regulatory shifts while raising concerns about offshore risk exposure.

Regulatory shift follows offshore demand

As reported by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and according to the Financial Times, the regulator has allowed the listing of a perpetual contract referencing the spot price of bitcoin, creating the first approved product of its kind in the U.S. The decision follows a sharp rise in trading of similar instruments on Hyperliquid, an unregulated decentralised exchange that has gained traction beyond core crypto users.

Perpetual futures do not expire and let traders speculate on price moves without taking delivery of the underlying asset. Their appeal comes from simple directional bets and high leverage, with Hyperliquid offering leverage of as much as 40 times, a structure that can amplify gains as well as losses.

Hyperliquid has emerged as a key force in the market for so-called perps, letting users trade contracts linked to cryptocurrencies, oil, stocks and even private companies. Activity on the platform accelerates after the outbreak of the Iran war, when traders turn to its oil-linked products to bet on volatile energy prices outside normal weekday trading hours and over weekends.

Competition and risk concerns spread across the sector

Data from CoinDesk Data show that WTI and Brent crude contracts account for nearly half of all trades on Hyperliquid since its 2023 launch. The next largest contracts track silver and the Nasdaq 100, underscoring how recent volatility is driving demand for speculation tied to real-world assets rather than only crypto tokens.

That growth is pushing both crypto groups and established exchanges to respond. Kalshi says it will soon offer regulated perpetuals in the U.S. after receiving CFTC approval for a bitcoin-linked contract, while Coinbase says it has approval to connect the country to global crypto options and perps.

Traditional exchange operators are also moving to capture demand for perpetuals and after-hours trading while warning about the risks of offshore venues that sit outside U.S. oversight. Intercontinental Exchange, owner of the New York Stock Exchange, says it is creating oil perpetual futures for trading in Europe and Asia with OKX, as industry executives argue that failures in settlement or sharp price swings on platforms such as Hyperliquid could reverberate across crypto markets and Wall Street.

Hyperliquid, based in Singapore, generates roughly $960 million of revenue in 2025 with only about a dozen employees, including founder Jeff Yan. As a decentralised platform it does not follow broad know-your-customer and anti-money laundering controls and does not permit U.S.-based traders to use the exchange, though market participants note that location blocks can be bypassed with tools such as VPNs.

The platform rejects criticism from incumbent exchanges and says their concerns are unfounded. Bob Diamond, chair of Hyperliquid Strategies, says perpetuals are a better product for non-professional traders, while Yan says he wants to work toward making American access to Hyperliquid a reality.

In our earlier coverage of the Iran war’s energy shock, we looked at how the conflict pushed gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel prices higher and added roughly $447 in extra energy-related costs for the average U.S. household. We also noted that, with income growth lagging, consumers have been leaning on thinner savings and rising credit card balances, raising concerns that elevated fuel costs could continue to strain spending if energy prices stay high.

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