The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the U.S. derivatives regulator, asked a federal court on Sept. 2 to dismiss CME's challenge to KalshiEX's Bitcoin perpetual contracts. CME sued on June 18 after the CFTC approved the contracts on May 29, arguing that a contract without a fixed expiration is a swap rather than a future under the Commodity Exchange Act. The CFTC says CME must first demonstrate an injury the court can remedy, arguing that the exchange could list a comparable digital-commodity product and that any competitive harm from declining to do so is self-inflicted. A ruling on that threshold issue could leave the futures-versus-swaps question unresolved. The case comes as regulated U.S. venues explore perpetual-style contracts, including products with varying expiration mechanics, potential contracts linked to prices on Hyperliquid, and a reported Kalshi filing for a West Texas Intermediate crude-oil contract. CryptoQuant data shows global crypto perpetual-futures volume reached about $61.7 trillion in 2025, up 29% from the previous year, compared with $18.6 trillion in spot trading. The dispute could influence how much of that activity U.S. exchanges pursue under the CFTC's futures framework.