CBOE is reportedly exploring the conversion of its Bitcoin and Ether continuous futures contracts into perpetual futures, according to a report. The move would align the exchange with the dominant crypto derivatives product that has no expiration date and uses funding payments to track the underlying asset.
Regulatory shift and market demand
The consideration follows the CFTC's approval of Kalshi's cryptocurrency perpetual futures, which have generated over $8.5 billion in trading volume within weeks of launch. The regulator's decision has sparked opposition from the CME, which sued the CFTC earlier this month, arguing that Kalshi's products violate federal law and cause competitive injury.
Growing perpetual futures market
Perpetual futures have become the dominant crypto derivatives product since being popularized by BitMEX. Coinbase recently launched perpetual futures tied to stock indexes for US traders, following its March rollout of 24/7 stock futures for non-US traders. Interest in commodity perpetuals is also rising, with BitMEX noting demand amid oil and gold price volatility.
Decentralized exchanges processed over $22.5 billion in perpetual futures volume in the past 24 hours and roughly $663 billion over the past 30 days, with Hyperliquid accounting for the majority of activity, per DeFiLlama data.