BitMEX will close its exchange on September 23, ending an 11-year run that helped invent the crypto perpetuals market. The timing is striking: the company is exiting just as the US regulatory framework it once sidestepped is taking shape. BitMEX said the move followed a strategic review, and neither the firm nor the CFTC has drawn a direct line between the closure and recent policy shifts.
Why perpetuals stayed offshore for so long
When BitMEX launched, there was simply no workable domestic route for perpetual contracts in the United States. The CFTC had issued staff advisories in 2018 and 2023 that applied heightened scrutiny to digital-asset derivatives, and no exchange had successfully self-certified a crypto perp for US trading. Offshore venues filled that gap fast, building deep liquidity pools that American regulators could not easily reach.
BitMEX ran a direct-access offshore model, but in 2020 the CFTC alleged the platform had been taking orders and funds from US customers without registering as a futures commission merchant. The regulator also cited weak know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering controls. The company settled with the CFTC and FinCEN for $100 million in 2021. Its shutdown now leaves a $270 million insurance fund in an uncertain position.
The regulatory picture started shifting in March 2025, when the CFTC withdrew both advisories. The 2018 guidance was retired because of greater staff experience and a more mature market; the 2023 advisory went away to signal that digital-asset derivatives would get the same treatment as any other derivatives product. Acting Chair Caroline Pham followed up in April with a formal consultation on perpetual contracts.
That same month, Bitnomial self-certified a BTC/USD perpetual futures contract and started institutional trading. In May 2026, the CFTC formally approved Kalshi's bitcoin perpetual, published a policy statement and released guidance covering round-the-clock trading, clearing and settlement. The regulator also confirmed that certain Deribit perpetuals referenced in Coinbase Financial Markets' request could be treated as foreign futures, granting related no-action relief. Chairman Michael Selig framed the policy as an effort to pull offshore liquidity into US oversight and keep use, volatility and systemic risk inside a regulated perimeter.
BitMEX pioneered the instrument that regulators are now rushing to domesticate. It just won't be around to trade inside the new rules it helped make necessary.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.
