The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) took a historic step on May 29 by approving the first Bitcoin perpetual contract on a fully regulated domestic exchange. KalshiEX received clearance to list BTCPERP, a cash-settled product that trades 24/7 and employs a funding rate mechanism tied to spot prices. Simultaneously, the CFTC granted no-action relief to a Coinbase affiliate, allowing it to connect eligible U.S. customers to options and perpetuals on Deribit, a foreign board of trade. That relief means clients can use Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins as margin collateral.
The market reaction was swift. Hyperliquid’s native token, HYPE, surged over 30% from its weekly lows to a new all-time high of $73.50, cementing itself as the top-performing token of 2026 with a 270% gain against Bitcoin. Coinbase shares rose 4%, and Robinhood jumped 11% on Friday. Major cryptocurrencies, however, remained under pressure—Bitcoin fell 6% on the week to around $72,500, while Ethereum dropped to $1,980.
CFTC Chair Michael Selig called the move “historic,” outlining a dual regulatory pathway: one for domestic listings on CFTC-registered exchanges and another for offshore products treated as foreign futures. Industry participants see the approval as a watershed moment that could unlock a surge in regulated crypto derivatives trading in the United States.
On Capitol Hill, House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill is pushing tokenization to the top of the legislative agenda. In an interview, Hill said his committee recently held a hearing on real-world asset tokenization to determine whether lawmakers need to grant additional authorities to the SEC and bank regulators, or if the matter can be handled at the agency level. Hill emphasized that tokenizing assets like common stock is “an exercise in changing systems, not changing the law,” and he is exploring the tokenization of commercial bank deposits to enable direct debit payments without intermediaries.
The Clarity Act, a market structure bill, continues to move through the Senate, with a floor vote expected within 30 days. Hill noted that the House had already achieved broad consensus on stablecoin sales practices, DeFi, and ethics rules, securing 78 Democratic votes last year. The Senate version is incorporating many of those provisions, and Hill and Rep. Bryan Steil are in regular contact with senators. Meanwhile, a high-profile clash emerged as JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon called Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong “full of shit” over the stablecoin yield carve‑out in the Clarity Act. The dispute centers on whether yield‑bearing rewards on stablecoins constitute deposit competition that could undermine the banking system.
In a separate development, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed that the U.S. has seized approximately $1 billion in cryptocurrency from Iran, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT, tied to the Hormuz Safe platform and sanctions evasion. The seizure adds to the government’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, which now holds around 200,000 BTC, and may play into legislative efforts like the American Reserves Modernization Act that aims to acquire 1 million BTC over five years.
Overall, the confluence of regulatory breakthroughs and advancing legislation is generating cautious optimism across the crypto market, though major tokens still face near‑term selling pressure.
