CFTC moves to dismiss CME challenge to Kalshi Bitcoin futures

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a motion on September 2 seeking to dismiss CME Group's lawsuit over the agency's approval of Kalshi's Bitcoin perpetual futures contracts, calling the challenge frivolous and arguing that CME has failed to demonstrate any concrete competitive injury.

The CFTC's filing, shared by Hyperliquid Policy Center CEO Jake Chervinsky, contends that CME lacks standing because nothing in the existing regulatory framework prevents the exchange from offering identical perpetual futures products itself. The agency defended its May classification of the contracts as futures rather than swaps, stating simply that "perpetual futures are futures."

CME had argued the approval violated the Commodity Exchange Act and Dodd-Frank, was issued without public comment, and caused direct competitive harm by allowing Kalshi to enter the crypto derivatives market. The CFTC rejected that framing, characterizing the lawsuit as a dispute over regulatory classification rather than agency authority, and accusing CME of opposing the administration's pro-innovation agenda.