As the regulatory landscape for digital assets continues to evolve, Coinbase (who also owns and controls a US regulated Futures Commission Merchant (“FCM”) called Coinbase Financial Markets) has announced plans to launch Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved perpetual futures trading in the United States, marking a significant step for crypto derivatives within the country. This move comes just as lawmakers introduced sweeping legislation that could shape the future of such offerings.

Regulatory Developments in Congress

Coinciding with Coinbase’s announcement, House Financial Services Chair French Hill introduced the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (“CLARITY Act”) on May 29, 2025, a 236-page bill seeking to define and structure how digital assets are regulated. The Act’s stated purpose is:

“To provide for a system of regulation of the offer and sale of digital commodities by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and for other purposes.”

The bill proposes clearer jurisdictional lines between the SEC and CFTC, aiming to resolve longstanding ambiguity over whether specific crypto tokens are securities or commodities. Under the proposed framework, digital commodities would fall under the CFTC’s purview, while securities tokens would remain within the SEC’s jurisdiction.  Turnkey has long shared the belief that the CFTC would become the primary regulator of record in the US over crypto currency and digital asset products. Crypto products, like it or not, closely resemble spot foreign currency contracts and often settle financially to a native fiat currency. Logically, products of this type fall within the CFTC’s traditional market regulation purview. Forex regulation originally was plagued with questions about whether or not spot contracts could be considered futures. This go round it seems the industry has learned to avoid that argument and work toward a solution to accommodate perpetual markets.

Interplay Between Market and Policy

Coinbase’s move reflects a broader trend among US-based platforms seeking to offer complex products within a compliant framework, anticipating both enforcement clarity and market demand. If enacted, the CLARITY Act would codify and potentially expand the CFTC’s role over digital commodity derivatives, facilitating more robust and legally certain offerings like Coinbase’s perpetual futures.

At a time when investors are regaining risk appetite and crypto exchanges seek to diversify their products, these parallel developments underscore an emerging consensus: regulated derivatives are set to play a central role in the maturing US digital asset market.

Implications for Existing CFTC and NFA Registrants

On May 21, 2025 the National Futures Association (“NFA”) submitted a “Request for Comment” letter to the CFTC regarding 24/7 trading. If you have not reviewed this letter you should consider doing so by clicking here. NFA acknowledged that innovation within the space was bound to happen but stopped short of welcoming the change. Rather, the regulator suggested that the CFTC carefully reconsider its existing regulations in light of allowing perpetual contracts to trade. Several of NFA’s comments were quite helpful in better understanding how regulators might begin evaluating risk in this area. Turnkey covered this in more detail when we published our article “Crypto Regulation Pushing CFTC – Futures and Options Going 24/7?”

CFTC and NFA registered FCM’s as well as Introducing Brokers (“IB”) will want to truly consider the risk of offering clients 24/7 products available on margin. Similarly, Commodity Trading Advisors (“CTA”) and Commodity Pool Operators (“CPO”) taking positions in perpetual contracts should understand the pros and cons of 24/7 liquidity. Risk systems and models will need to be updated along with internal control policies and customer disclosures once these products go live.