ftc

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has previously secretly approved at least three insider trading investigations related to Polymarket trading, involving contracts related to Biden's pardons, the Iran war, and Google-related events. The relevant investigation documents were obtained by WIRED through the Freedom of Information Act.Among them, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig approved an investigation into contracts related to Biden's pardons in May, after a trader had profited over $300,000 in the relevant market; in the same month, the CFTC also approved an investigation into Iran war contracts, after a group of suspicious accounts was reported to have profited $2.4 million with a win rate of about 98%. In July, the CFTC further initiated an investigation into Google-related Polymarket contracts, focusing on individuals who may have traded using non-public information regarding Google's 2025 search rankings. The Southern District Attorney's Office in New York is also conducting a parallel investigation.It is currently unclear whether the aforementioned accounts are connected to previously investigated individuals. Polymarket stated that the company would refer the relevant matters to law enforcement and cooperate with the investigation. As the prediction market rapidly expands, U.S. regulators are clearly intensifying their scrutiny of insider trading and market manipulation.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) stated that fund managers reduced their net long positions in S&P 500 futures to the lowest level since last week.

Bitcoin News posted on platform X that after the CFTC approved Kalshi's Bitcoin perpetual contracts as futures products, traders face uncertainty on how to report gains to the IRS.If the product is classified as a regulated futures contract under Section 1256 of the U.S. Tax Code, related gains are typically treated as 60% long-term capital gains and 40% short-term capital gains, regardless of the holding period. CME believes that Kalshi's perpetual contracts are actually swaps, which are explicitly not covered under Section 1256. The CFTC's classification supports the view that it is a futures product, but does not bind the IRS; the tax treatment remains uncertain until the IRS, Congress, or the courts directly address Bitcoin perpetual contracts.

According to CNBC, the prediction market platform Kalshi has received approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to launch perpetual contracts for gold and silver, marking the first non-cryptocurrency perpetual contract product approved by the CFTC.Kalshi was first approved to launch cryptocurrency perpetual contracts at the end of May this year, and as of now, the nominal trading volume of related products has reached 44 billion dollars.

According to Hyperliquid News, the Hyperliquid Policy Center has submitted a legal opinion to the federal court in Washington, D.C., seeking to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) against the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).The lawsuit involves the CFTC's prior approval of the launch of regulated cryptocurrency perpetual contracts in the U.S. through Kalshi. CME had previously filed a lawsuit regarding the related regulatory decision, while the Hyperliquid Policy Center supports the CFTC's side, arguing that the court should dismiss CME's lawsuit.

According to Bitcoin News, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has requested a Washington D.C. court to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) against Kalshi regarding Bitcoin perpetual futures contracts.Kalshi's cash-settled BTCPERP contract was approved on May 29, which has no expiration date, employs a funding rate mechanism, and tracks the spot price of Bitcoin. CME argues that contracts without a delivery date that continuously generate funding payments should be classified as swaps, not futures. In response, the CFTC stated that CME's lawsuit is "making a fuss over nothing" and pointed out that CME could also list similar products. Furthermore, the CFTC noted that CME's Bitcoin futures trading volume in June and August was higher than in May, indicating that related business has not been significantly affected. CME must submit a response by October 2.

Coinbase, the cryptocurrency exchange, submitted Form 1-N and Form BD-N to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on September 1 through Coinbase Derivatives and Coinbase Financial Markets, respectively, intending to launch single-stock perpetual contracts in the U.S. Coinbase's Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad stated that the next step for the related products still requires approval from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).The two documents pertain to registration as a securities futures exchange and a limited-purpose securities futures broker. Since March 20, Coinbase has been offering 10x perpetual contracts for stocks such as Apple, Nvidia, and Tesla to non-U.S. users, settled in USDC and supporting 24/7 trading. U.S. users were previously explicitly excluded from this product.

Circle President and former CFTC Chairman Heath Tarbert stated at a hearing of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee that the GENIUS Act has established a federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, equivalent to building a "dollar layer" for the internet financial system. He urged Congress to next pass the CLARITY Act to complete the long-term regulatory framework for the "market layer" of digital assets.In addition, Tarbert also urged that the final implementation rules of the GENIUS Act should close the regulatory arbitrage space for offshore stablecoins, requiring intermediary institutions that actually serve U.S. customers to be subject to corresponding restrictions, and ensuring that foreign stablecoin issuers meet truly comparable regulatory standards.

Hyperliquid Policy Center CEO Jake Chervinsky disclosed on the X platform that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a motion to dismiss CME's lawsuit regarding crypto perpetual contracts.The motion states that CME lacks standing to sue, arguing that CME itself can also offer perpetual contracts, so any harm is self-inflicted. Chervinsky relayed the CFTC's wording, stating "this lawsuit is just making a mountain out of a molehill."

According to The Information, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is reviewing relevant rules to address potential conflicts of interest between prediction market exchanges and their affiliated trading companies.

Ondo Finance is urging U.S. regulators to bring the business of perpetual contracts anchored to individual stocks under regulation, asserting that this product can operate in compliance under the existing securities and futures framework without new rules. In three comment letters sent to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on August 24, Ondo stated that existing rules can accommodate stock perpetual futures while considering modern margin practices and on-chain listing data. Ondo mentioned that its affiliated company in Panama has been offering stablecoin-settled perpetual contracts anchored to U.S. stocks overseas, with a cumulative trading volume reaching $8 billion as of August 14 since its launch in June.Ondo believes that regular funding rate payments can keep perpetual contracts aligned with the underlying stock prices, functioning similarly to the expiration settlement of traditional futures. In the letter, Ondo stated that there are no provisions in the statutory definition of securities futures products that require a fixed expiration date to be set. The company also pointed out that many offshore perpetual contracts have underlying stocks primarily traded on U.S. exchanges, and bringing the related business back to the U.S. should be a direction actively promoted by both agencies. According to RWA.xyz data, Ondo is one of the largest managers in the tokenized real-world assets (RWA) space, with an allocated value of approximately $2.6 billion as of Wednesday, ranking fourth.Ondo's proposal comes as U.S. regulators are re-examining the existing market rules for on-chain products, including perpetual contracts and tokenized securities. In March of this year, the SEC and CFTC signed a memorandum of understanding to coordinate regulation in overlapping areas of jurisdiction.

Gate US's wholly-owned subsidiary Gate Futures LLC has completed the independent introducing broker registration with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and has officially become a member of the National Futures Association (NFA).

As the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) accelerate their rule-making efforts for the $2.5 trillion industry amid a legislative stalemate on cryptocurrency market structure during the summer recess, both agencies are advancing multiple crypto-related initiatives. These include re-evaluating the definitions of derivatives such as swaps and perpetual contracts, as well as rewriting the SEC's crypto custody rules.A bipartisan group composed of former CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo, former CFTC Commissioners Brian Quintenz and Sharon Brown-Hruska, former SEC Commissioner Steven Wallman, and former SEC Chief Economist Chester Spatt stated in a comment letter sponsored by Kalshi that similar risks should receive similar regulatory treatment, and overlapping rules should not impose additional compliance costs. Giancarlo noted that if federal regulation is calibrated based on actual risks rather than maximum burdens, liquidity will flow back to the U.S., and the longer we wait, the harder it will be to attract that liquidity back.Kalshi estimates that offshore perpetual contract trading volume will exceed $90 trillion by 2025, up from about $28 trillion two years ago. Additionally, the SEC last week submitted its plan to rewrite the custody rules for investment advisers and investment companies to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review, and its "Reg Crypto" proposal has officially entered the Federal Register, with a public comment period ending on October 20.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) ordered former White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez to pay a fine of $172,539 this Friday for illegally trading on a prediction market platform using advance knowledge of Trump's speech content.According to a settlement agreement with the CFTC, Perez must return illegal profits of $107,539.02 and pay a civil penalty of $65,000. He also agreed to a three-year trading ban and committed to cease and not violate the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations.The CFTC noted that Perez traded Trump "mention market" contracts on the Kalshi platform during his time at the White House from December 2025 to February 2026. These contracts are event contracts that determine payouts based on whether the president uses specific words or phrases in a speech.

The Hyperliquid Policy Center stated on platform X that perpetual contracts should be at the core of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) innovation agenda. The agency submitted a statement regarding the first meeting of the CFTC Innovation Advisory Committee on August 20, pointing out that perpetual contracts are gradually expanding beyond the digital asset market to traditional asset classes such as stocks and commodities, and that demand for this product among U.S. market participants is rising.Perpetual contracts can meet the risk management needs of different market participants, making them particularly suitable for airlines hedging fuel costs, investment funds managing portfolio exposure, and AI developers addressing ongoing risks related to computing costs that do not have a clear expiration date. Compared to futures with fixed expiration dates, perpetual contracts do not require rolling over, and there are no expiration and delivery issues; they anchor contract prices to the underlying assets through periodic funding rates. Currently, on Hyperliquid, perpetual contracts deployed by third-party developers cover over 80 traditional commodity and stock markets, with a cumulative notional trading volume exceeding $500 billion.This year, the CFTC has taken several measures to promote the establishment of the perpetual contract market in the U.S. In May, the CFTC approved the first perpetual futures contract listed in the U.S. and issued a policy statement and continuous trading guidance regarding the listing of perpetual contracts; in June, the CFTC sought public opinion on extending perpetual contracts to energy commodities and further consulted on computing power derivatives.In addition, the Hyperliquid Policy Center believes that on-chain infrastructure can also promote the modernization of the U.S. derivatives market within the existing regulatory framework. Public blockchains can openly record markets, orders, and positions, continuously conduct margin assessments programmatically, and enable real-time collateral transfers, thereby reducing counterparty credit risk and settlement risk. The agency will continue to provide relevant research and technical documents to the CFTC Innovation Advisory Committee and committee staff, and promote the establishment of a pathway for U.S. market participants to compliantly access on-chain markets. The agency believes that perpetual contracts are one of the most representative financial innovations of the past decade and should be further developed in the U.S. market.

According to a notice from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), scammers are frequently impersonating government agencies, banks, investment firms, utility companies, or tech support personnel to lure victims into transferring funds via cryptocurrency ATMs, gift cards, unfamiliar applications, or courier services. They exploit the irreversible nature of transactions and the difficulty in tracing address ownership to carry out their scams.Data from the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) of the FBI shows that in 2025, reported losses from scams involving cryptocurrency ATMs exceeded $388 million, a 58% increase from the previous year, with actual losses potentially higher due to underreporting.The CFTC states that legitimate government departments, financial institutions, and businesses will not ask users to transfer assets via cryptocurrency ATMs, gift cards, or courier services. If someone urges action by claiming "your account or identity is at urgent risk," or requests confidentiality, remote control of devices, or transfers to specified wallet addresses or QR codes, it should be considered a high-risk signal. Regulatory agencies recommend that users stop trading, independently verify information through official channels, and promptly report suspicious scams to the CFTC or FBI IC3.

The Hyperliquid Policy Council (HPC) and TradeXYZ jointly submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), calling for the inclusion of energy perpetual contracts in the regulated U.S. market.The article mentions that in February this year, due to the Middle East conflict causing disruptions in crude oil exports and the U.S. futures market being closed, overseas market participants were able to manage risk exposure through crude oil-linked perpetual contracts on Hyperliquid. Approximately two-thirds of the price changes were completed on-chain during the first weekend of the conflict.In May this year, the CFTC approved the first batch of cryptocurrency-based perpetual contracts to be traded as futures in the U.S., and in June, it publicly solicited opinions on energy perpetual contracts. The comment letter suggests that the CFTC establish a technology-neutral framework to evaluate energy perpetual contracts and 24/7 trading, confirm that exchanges can operate around the clock, recognize stablecoins and tokenized collateral as eligible margin, and allow regulated markets to use on-chain infrastructure for execution, clearing, and settlement.

Coinbase's policy head Faryar Shirzad stated that Coinbase has submitted a joint request for comments to the CFTC and SEC regarding the definition of perpetual derivatives products and alternative compliance pathways. He emphasized that it is essential to address the complexities of definitions and overlapping regulatory jurisdictions so that the U.S. can bring relevant activities under domestic regulation.Shirzad pointed out that clarifying the rules helps safely open relevant opportunities to U.S. consumers and maintain the competitiveness of the U.S. against foreign jurisdictions that already have significant first-mover advantages in this field. This response focuses on product definitions and compliance arrangements, aiming to promote the regulation of perpetual derivatives in the U.S.