CFTC Chair Mike Selig Addresses Misconceptions About Perpetual Futures Contracts

CFTC Chair Mike Selig said in a post on X that he was clarifying four misconceptions about perpetual futures contracts. According to PANews, Selig addressed claims that a “futures contract” must have a fixed expiration or delivery date and that perpetual contracts’ indefinite nature conflicts with congressional intent. He said neither the Commodity Exchange Act nor CFTC regulations provide a clear definition of the term “futures contract,” and neither requires a fixed expiration or delivery date. He added that because Congress did not define the term, relevant standards come from case law and the commission’s interpretations, which he said also do not require a fixed expiration date. Selig also responded to criticism that the CFTC, by approving the BTCPERP contract, approved a futures product allowing U.S. participants to use leverage of up to 250x in violation of its own rules.