The Commodity Futures Trading Commission asked a U.S. federal court on Wednesday to throw out CME Group's lawsuit over the agency's approval of cryptocurrency perpetual futures.
In a motion filed in the District Court of Columbia, the CFTC stated that the CME's case is "much ado about nothing," arguing that its claims of competitive injury lack legal standing and substance.
On June 18, CME sued the CFTC over the agency's May 29 order approving Kalshi's bitcoin perpetual futures contract and its statement allowing other designated contract markets (DCMs) to list similar contracts as futures. CME argued that such products should be classified as swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act and Dodd-Frank, and that the CFTC circumvented regulations to make the approval.
"In short, by authorizing Kalshi and others to enter the derivatives marketplace by listing similar cryptocurrency perpetuals as futures, the CFTC ushered new entrants into CME's retail futures market that seek to compete with CME for retail customers," CME said in its complaint.
