CFTC no-action letter lets exchanges turn crypto futures into true perpetuals

Key Summary

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued Staff Letter No. 26-19, granting conditional no-action relief to designated contract markets to convert existing perpetual-style digital commodity futures into true perpetual futures. The relief applies to 16 contracts by Bitnomial Exchange, LLC, and 22 contracts by Coinbase Derivatives, LLC, which had expiration dates ranging from 1 to 25 years. The no-action letter allows exchanges to delete expiration dates, reducing the self-certification timing requirements under CFTC Regulation 40.6. The relief is conditional, with specific eligibility criteria, and expires on June 30, 2026.