The CFTC has opened public consultation on whether perpetual futures contracts can work for crude oil and other physical energy commodities, just one month after approving the first US-regulated bitcoin perpetuals. The regulator published a 22-page request with 67 questions on June 22, following Kraken’s launch of CFTC-regulated crypto perps on June 15.
The inquiry signals serious uncertainty about extending the perpetual structure beyond digital assets. While bitcoin perps rely on deep, continuous global spot markets for reliable reference pricing and funding rate calculations, crude oil markets operate during defined windows with assessed rather than continuously traded prices. The CFTC is seeking industry input on critical operational questions: how funding rates function when reference markets close on weekends, who handles margin calls when Fedwire is offline, and whether weekend perp price movements could distort Monday benchmark prices that commercial hedgers depend on.
FXnCO Insight
Energy traders should prepare for an extended consultation period before any crude oil perpetuals launch stateside, as unresolved operational infrastructure gaps remain far more complex than the crypto approval pathway.
Source: Finance Magnates