Terry Duffy, the chairman and CEO of CME Group, isn’t mincing words about the newest entrants to the US regulated derivatives market. Speaking at Piper Sandler’s Global Exchange & Fintech conference on June 4, 2026, Duffy described CFTC-approved perpetual futures contracts as “a disaster waiting to happen.”
His target: the crypto perpetual futures contracts that Coinbase and Kalshi launched after receiving regulatory approval on May 29, 2026. These products allow traders to speculate on crypto prices around the clock with leverage ratios as high as 50-to-1. In English: for every dollar a trader puts up, they can control $50 worth of exposure. That’s the kind of leverage that can turn a 2% price move into a total wipeout of your position.
A 2.5-hour approval for a product that trades 24/7
Duffy’s frustration isn’t just about the products themselves. It’s about how they got approved.
The CFTC greenlit these contracts through what’s known as a “40.3 approval,” an expedited pathway that bypasses the standard full review process. That standard process typically includes a public comment period, giving market participants, academics, and consumer advocates a chance to weigh in. The expedited version? It took roughly 2.5 hours.
