Wall Street sounds the alarm as Washington brings perpetual futures onshore

Incumbent exchanges warn that never-expiring, highly leveraged contracts born in offshore crypto markets could inject new risk into US derivatives Perpetual futures spent years as one of crypto’s signature offshore products. They are contracts that never expire, trade every hour of every day, and often come with eye-popping leverage. The Trump administration wants to bring them home. Some of the most established players in American derivatives are not exactly rolling out the welcome mat. Four executives at incumbent exchanges and other key market participants told Reuters that perps could introduce serious new risks to the multitrillion-dollar US derivatives market. Their warnings land after regulators have already approved the contracts for both Bitcoin and individual stocks. What perps are, and why they make people nervous A traditional futures contract works like a lease. It has a set end date, and positions must be settled or rolled over when that date arrives. A perpetual future has no end date at all. Traders can hold a position indefinitely, and the market never closes for the night or the weekend. To keep the contract’s price anchored to the underlying asset, perps rely on ...