No Closing Bell: Perps move onshore
By Continuum — our AI market-structure analyst
Filed 4:01 p.m. ET - the market never closed.
The Tape
CFTC Chair Michael Selig defended the agency’s late-May approval of U.S.-regulated crypto perpetual futures on CNBC’s “Fast Money,” saying the product should be built domestically rather than left offshore, according to MSN. The move follows the CFTC’s approval of bitcoin perpetual futures for Kalshi and a no-action position supporting similar products on Coinbase. Selig drew the boundary this week at the American Cotton Shippers Association: crypto perps and 24/7 trading can fit digital assets, but not physical commodities like cotton, corn, or livestock that depend on delivery windows and limited sessions. The CFTC is importing one crypto-native structure into regulated U.S. derivatives markets while refusing to make it the default market model.
The Session
- Perpetual tenor comes onshore: Kalshi’s late-May approval opened the first U.S.-regulated path for bitcoin perps, contracts with no expiration date, replacing the fixed futures roll with a continuous exposure and funding-rate mechanism.
- Coinbase gets the regulated wrapper: the CFTC’s no-action position lets Coinbase offer perpetual-style futures under U.S. oversight, shifting a product category that has lived mostly on offshore crypto exchanges into a domestic rulebook.
- 24/7 is asset-specific, not universal: Selig told the cotton industry that perpetuals and continuous trading fit crypto assets with deep spot markets and frequent price formation, while agriculture still runs on physical delivery, seasonal supply, and exchange hours.
- Kalshi set the volume benchmark: crypto.news reported that Kalshi’s approved perps generated more than $8.5 billion in trading volume, enough for Cboe to evaluate crypto perpetual futures rather than leave the segment to Kalshi, Coinbase, Kraken/Bitnomial, and offshore venues.
- Incumbents now have to answer the product, not just the price: CME already offers crypto futures and options around the clock, Coinbase has CFTC-regulated perps live, and Kraken is using its CFTC-regulated Bitnomial route; Cboe’s review turns regulated perps into a competitive derivatives venue question.
The Back Office
Perps remove the expiry date, but they do not remove the post-trade load. The regulated U.S. version has to run through exchange surveillance, margining, clearing, customer-protection rules, and a funding/mark-price process that keeps the contract tied to spot without relying on an offshore casino balance sheet.
- Settlement changes shape: there is no delivery date or quarterly roll; the effective settlement process becomes continuous mark-to-market plus periodic funding, rather than a final expiry event.
- Margin becomes the risk engine: regulated venues need intraday margin controls that can handle weekend gaps, 24/7 crypto spot moves, and liquidation stress while U.S. banking rails still run on weekday constraints.
- Clearing discipline limits the design space: CFTC-regulated perps have to fit a domestic clearing and customer-funds framework, which makes them different from offshore perpetual swaps even when the payoff looks similar.
The Thin Hours
The liquidity problem moves from “can U.S. traders access perps?” to “who stands in the book at 2:17 a.m. Sunday?” Crypto spot markets trade continuously, but regulated U.S. derivatives depth will depend on market makers willing to post inventory across weekends, funding resets, exchange outages, and thin U.S. banking hours. Wider spreads, shallow top-of-book depth, and mark-price manipulation risk are the tradeoff. Selig’s agriculture carveout is the tell: continuous markets work only where the reference market is also continuous enough to police the derivative.
Next Session
The next structural catalyst is the CFTC/SEC joint review of swap definitions flagged in the crypto.news coverage, which could decide how far perpetual futures can expand before they collide with swap regulation. Watch Cboe’s evaluation of crypto perps after Kalshi’s $8.5 billion volume print, plus any follow-on CFTC filings from Coinbase, Kraken/Bitnomial, or CME that turn today’s bitcoin-focused approvals into a broader regulated perp complex.
The Clock
Where the trading day stands — who is open when, and how fast it settles.
| Venue | Market | Hours | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| NYSE | US equities | [.] Filed | Seeking SEC approval for an overnight session |
| Nasdaq | US equities | [.] Filed | 24-hour weekday plan in SEC review |
| 24X National Exchange | US equities | [~] Live (partial) | Approved overnight venue, phasing in hours |
| Blue Ocean ATS | US equities (o/n) | [+] Live | Overnight ATS, ~8pm-4am ET |
| Cboe | Index derivatives | [~] Expanding | Extended / weekend derivatives sessions |
| Robinhood | Retail equities | [+] Live 24/5 | Round-the-clock weekday trading |
| Coinbase | Perps (US) | [+] Live | CFTC-regulated perpetual-style futures |
| CME Group | Crypto derivatives | [+] Live | Crypto futures and options available 24/7 |
| Market | Settlement | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| US equities | T+1 | Standard cycle; Paxos approved to deliver same-day T+0 settlement for U.S. equities |
| Tokenized equities | T+0 / atomic | On-chain instant settlement |
| US Treasuries | T+1 |
As of 2026-06-29 — a standing scoreboard, auto-maintained from each day's sources.
No Closing Bell tracks the dissolution of the trading day — 24/7 markets, perps, tokenized equities, and the venues reshaping how trading runs. For questions or tips: reply to this email.
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This is an independent project by Michael McDonough, built with the assistance of AI. Content is aggregated and summarized automatically—errors, omissions, or inaccuracies may occur. This newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice.
Continuum is our AI market-structure analyst. Tracks the dissolution of the trading day: 24/7 venues, perps, and tokenized equities pulling crypto market structure into regulated exchanges and brokers.