Regulators in Washington signaled renewed urgency around how crypto markets are structured and regulated, as a Milken Institute panel brought together key U.S. overseers to discuss perpetual futures, prediction markets and the broader market framework. CFTC Chair Michael Selig outlined a path to US-accessible perpetual futures, while SEC Chair Paul Atkins pressed for greater congressional clarity to steer crypto policy. The conversations come amid ongoing questions about governance, enforcement actions against prediction-market platforms, and a stalled market-structure bill that remains the subject of intense debate in Congress. With the CFTC short of a full slate and lawmakers weighing ethics, stablecoins and tokenized equities, the regulatory tempo appears poised to intensify in the weeks ahead.
During the Washington event, Selig said the Commission is actively pursuing a pathway to “true perpetual futures” for digital assets in the United States, aiming to deliver a functional version “within the next month or so.” The comments underscored a coordinated push to bring crypto product design closer to traditional futures markets and to anchor these instruments within a domestic legal framework rather than offshore venues. Selig’s remarks reflect a broader objective: reduce regulatory arbs and promote market integrity by establishing a clear, US-based regime for innovative derivatives tied to cryptocurrencies.
Notably, Selig currently stands as the sole Senate-confirmed commissioner at the CFTC, a vacancy-heavy backdrop that has persisted for months. He noted the agency’s reliance on a sense of congressional direction to advance policy and market structure reforms, underscoring how essential new leadership could be for momentum. In a panel exchange with Atkins, Selig pointed to the reality that, historically, “the prior administration drove a lot of these firms and the liquidity offshore,” a reality many market participants have cited as a driver of fragmented liquidity and uneven regulatory oversight.
Beyond futures, Selig signaled that the CFTC intends to publish guidance on prediction markets “in the very near future.” The agency has long asserted jurisdiction over event-contract platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket, a stance that has drawn scrutiny from states pursuing their own enforcement actions against these operators. The discussion at Milken highlighted a recurring theme in crypto policy: the tension between federal authority and state-level actions, and the need for clear, uniform standards to prevent a patchwork regulatory environment that complicates compliance for innovators and operators alike.
On the topic of market structure, Atkins stressed the importance of legislative clarity. He described the ongoing digital asset market-structure bill as moving through Congress but effectively paused as the White House and lawmakers navigate debates over ethics, stablecoin yield and tokenized equities. Atkins argued that the SEC needs statutory direction to direct the courts and support the commission’s crypto initiatives, while Selig countered that “there’s only so much you can do without legal certainty from Congress.” The exchange of views captured a broader cross-agency push for a map of responsibilities that could harmonize enforcement, supervision and market access for crypto products.
These remarks come as the Senate Banking Committee has not yet scheduled a markup for the market-structure bill, according to multiple briefings. The White House has been holding a stream of talks with industry leaders on stablecoin yield, a topic that continues to generate both optimism and risk for policy pathways. While administration officials have signaled interest in advancing a framework, observers note that substantive progress remains contingent on navigating concerns about consumer protections, financial stability and the implications for the broader asset class. The absence of a clear legislative timetable has left exchanges, liquidity providers and investors watching closely for any signs of accelerated action or renewed negotiation on key provisions.
Why it matters
The near-term focus on perpetual futures, prediction markets and market structure signals that the U.S. regulatory narrative around crypto is shifting from scattered enforcement and piecemeal guidance toward a more integrated framework. If the CFTC can operationalize a US-based perpetual futures regime in weeks, it could draw liquidity back from offshore venues and consolidate activity within regulated platforms, potentially improving transparency, disclosure and risk controls for retail and institutionally backed trades.
At the same time, the push to clarify the regulatory status of prediction markets—platforms that allow users to trade on event outcomes—has the potential to redefine how decentralized information markets operate in the United States. The CFTC’s insistence on exclusive jurisdiction over event contracts contrasts with ongoing state-level actions against Kalshi and Polymarket, highlighting a broader strategic debate about federal supremacy versus state experimentation. The outcome could influence where innovation remains permissible and where compliance costs rise, shaping the trajectory of experimentation in event-based speculation and its integration with broader DeFi ecosystems.
Meanwhile, the market-structure bill sits at a crossroads. Proponents argue that a statutory framework would reduce uncertainty for market participants and provide a clear mandate for both the CFTC and the SEC. Critics contend that the legislation, if rushed, may neglect nuanced issues such as governance, transparency, and consumer protection. The discussions around stablecoins—central to the policy package—illustrate how a single policy thread can ripple across multiple regulatory domains, affecting liquidity, yield strategies and the potential for tokenized financial instruments. The net effect for users and builders is a heightened need for precise, verifiable guidance and a predictable regulatory clock that can support sustainable product development.
These developments are unfolding against a backdrop of ongoing policy chatter and industry dialogue. The Milken Institute event, the subsequent reporting on Selig’s remarks, and the broader media coverage of market-structure debates collectively reinforce a sense that Washington is recalibrating how crypto markets should operate within a traditional financial framework. As policymakers weigh the balance between innovation and protection, the sector watches for concrete milestones—whether a formal rulemaking, a legislative markup, or a fresh round of guidance—that could anchor near-term decisions around product design, liquidity strategies and risk management.
For investors and developers, the implications are twofold. First, a cleared path for perpetual futures could attract more liquidity to compliant, U.S.-based venues, reducing reliance on offshore liquidity pools that have often been a feature of the crypto derivatives landscape. Second, clear guidance or legislation on prediction markets and stablecoins would help define permissible structures and capital requirements, potentially unlocking new product categories while imposing guardrails designed to reduce systemic risk. In short, the next few weeks could prove pivotal for how deeply regulated, institutionally aligned crypto markets become in the United States, and how much of the global liquidity shift back toward home shores will actually materialize.
As policymakers keep their focus on the balance between innovation and protection, market participants should monitor several concrete signals: when the CFTC releases its true perpetual-futures guidance; whether prediction markets receive formal regulatory clarity; whether the market-structure bill advances in markup; and how the White House’s ongoing discussions with industry translate into concrete policy proposals. The convergence or divergence of these threads will likely shape the trajectory of U.S. crypto market infrastructure for the remainder of the year.
