The CFTC asked the public on June 22, 2026 for comment on two ideas imported from crypto markets: extending standard futures contracts to around-the-clock 24/7 trading, and listing perpetual contracts tied to physically delivered or storable energy commodities. Comments are due within 30 days after the request is published in the Federal Register.
L4 News publishes information, not investment advice. Derivatives with leverage can amplify losses as fast as gains — and a request for comment is a questionnaire, not a product approval.
What is a perpetual contract?
A derivative with no expiry date. Ordinary futures settle on a calendar date; perpetuals run indefinitely, with a funding mechanism that keeps their price near the underlying asset. They were born on crypto exchanges and became one of the most-traded crypto products anywhere.
The novelty in the CFTC's request is the underlying: not bitcoin or ether, but physically delivered or storable energy commodities — think crude oil stored in tanks. The mechanics look familiar; the collateral and delivery plumbing is what a futures regulator exists to examine.
Why is a futures regulator asking about this?
Because markets stopped matching the clock. Crypto trades 24/7, energy markets globalized, and the CFTC's frameworks assumed sessions that close. Chairman Michael Selig said a clear, data-driven record will help the Commission better understand these developments' implications and impact in the market, framing the request as supporting responsible innovation while preserving protections against manipulation and disruption.
The agency had already moved on the crypto side of the ledger: on June 12, 2026, it issued a no-action letter clearing designated contract markets to convert perpetual-style digital commodity futures into true digital commodity perpetual futures. Crypto-native products have been walking into the regulated futures house all year; this request asks what the house should look like afterward.
Does 24/7 trading change anything for an ordinary person?
Potentially, yes — both directly and structurally. Directly: round-the-clock access removes the gap in which weekend news meets Monday's opening prices. Structurally: risk management, margin systems and default procedures were all built around daily settlement breaks that never stop happening in a 24/7 market.
That second-order effect is why the request exists. A market that cannot pause has to decide, in advance, how it handles margin calls at three in the morning on a Sunday — and whose money is at risk while it decides. Those are the questions the public record is being built for.
Can the public actually participate?
Yes, genuinely. Requests for comment are open dockets: anyone — an exchange, a trading firm, or an individual who trades on weekends — can file a comment through the Federal Register process, and the comments become part of the public record the Commission cites when it later acts.
Participation is uneven in practice; most comments come from firms with lawyers. But for a reader who wants to see how futures regulation gets made, the docket is the front row — and the deadline clock runs from publication in the Federal Register.
Is this good news or bad news for crypto?
Neither, honestly. It is absorption news: instruments that crypto invented are being examined for the regulated mainstream, where they would sit inside margin rules and manipulation oversight rather than on offshore venues. That could mean more access and more guardrails at once.
What it is not, as of June 22, 2026, is a decision. No rule has been proposed, no product approved. The request asks questions — covering trading hours, perpetual structure, and what 24/7 operation does to risk controls — and the answers will arrive on the record, in public.
For more context, read SEC's tokenized stocks plan, briefly delayed.
For more context, read fca final cryptoasset rules.
For more context, read The SEC and CFTC held a joint crypto event.
