CBOE will expand its futures market to offer regulated perpetual-style contracts. The CFTC-regulated trading will tap general interest in perpetual futures trading. 

CBOE’s Bitcoin and Ether Continuous Futures will be open to US traders, offering perpetual-style exposure. The trading is fully regulated by the CFTC, and will be open 23 hours per day, five days a week. CBOE’s market will still not copy the existent perpetual futures on purely crypto platforms. 

CBOE Global Markets will back the new contracts, Bitcoin Continuous Futures (PBT) and CBOE Ether Continuous Futures (PET). The contracts will start trading from December 15, pending regulatory review. 

The contracts will have a 10-year expiration to track the long-term exposure to BTC and ETH, with a daily cash adjustment. Traders of perp futures do not need to periodically roll over positions. CBOE aims to offer the same benefits to crypto traders, including the ability to short the assets and perform other strategic trades. 

‘As perpetual futures have historically been traded offshore, Cboe is excited to help expand access to these products within a U.S.-regulated, transparent, and intermediary-friendly environment,’ said Rob Hocking, Global Head of Derivatives at Cboe.

Hocking added that the Continuous Futures structure aims for efficient portfolio and risk management, while offering limited leveraged exposure. 

Recently, CBOE also proposed longer trading hours for its options market, mimicking the most active hours of crypto trading. 

CBOE to integrate Kaiko real-time data

CBOE will use its respective Kaiko real-time pricing data. Positions will receive Funding Amount data for their daily cash adjustment. 

‘Bringing perpetual-style futures to U.S. regulated markets addresses a real need for institutional investors seeking efficient, long-term crypto exposure,’ said Anne-Claire Maurice, Managing Director of Derived Data at Kaiko. 

The contracts will be cleared through CBOE Clear US, helping mitigate counterparty risk. Margin requirements will be in compliance with CFTC rules and fully compliant, with the potential for cross-margin offsets with other products on the exchange, such as Financially Settled Bitcoin (FBT) and Financially Settled Ether (FET).

The CBOE Options Institute will also offer courses on perpetual futures and discuss use cases, with training open on December 17 and January 13, 2026.

CBOE marks growing demand for futures trading

CBOE was among the first exchanges to register demand for BTC futures. Its first product, XBT, had some features in common with perpetual futures. The product, launched in partnership with Gemini, tapped the first wave of mainstream interest for BTC. 

The initial product discontinued its usage in 2019, due to a bear market and lowered trader interest. The current return of perpetual futures reflects another wave of mainstream interest, as well as a more advanced approach to BTC trading. 

The launch of the contracts follows a few months of peak activity on perpetual futures DEX, competing with centralized futures markets.

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