The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a motion to dismiss a civil suit brought by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group, which alleged that the regulator's treatment of cryptocurrency "futures" as "swaps" contravened the will of Congress.

In a Wednesday filing with the US District Court for the District of Columbia, lawyers representing CFTC Chair Michael Selig and the commission requested a hearing on the motion to dismiss the CME lawsuit, arguing that the exchange group lacks standing. The dispute is a rare public clash between the federal derivatives regulator and one of the world's largest futures exchanges, which has long served as a primary venue for regulated Bitcoin and Ether futures in the United States.

CME sued the CFTC in June, after the commission approved perpetual futures contracts tied to the spot price of Bitcoin (BTC) for the prediction markets platform Kalshi and issued a no-action position for similar products on the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. Perpetual futures, which have no expiration date and are among the most heavily traded crypto derivatives globally, have historically been offered mainly by offshore, non-US-regulated platforms, making the approvals a significant step toward bringing the product into the regulated US market. The June complaint argued that Selig had acted unilaterally, without a full panel of five commissioners, violating the Commodity Exchange Act by treating "futures" as "swaps" with expiration dates.

In its motion, the CFTC said the group could not make a "concrete showing that it is in fact likely to suffer financial injury," noting that "any CFTC-registered exchange can list perpetual futures on digital assets." The dispute also carries regulatory-classification stakes: whether perpetual-style contracts are regulated as futures or as swaps determines which rules and market participants apply, a distinction with compliance implications across the derivatives industry.

"This lawsuit is much ado about nothing," the filing said. "CME claims to be injured by a CFTC order authorizing 'perpetual futures contracts' on digital assets like bitcoin [...] as well as a policy statement concerning perpetual futures more generally [...] CME does not argue that it could not list this same type of futures contract."

The motion added: "[...] CME has not alleged, and cannot plausibly allege, that it suffered a financial injury from the CFTC's authorization of perpetual futures contracts. CME therefore lacks standing."

When the initial lawsuit was filed, a CFTC spokesperson told Cointelegraph that CME had engaged in "lawfare," and the agency described the June complaint as "frivolous."

Selig and the CFTC have requested an oral hearing on the motion, which had not been scheduled on the public docket as of Thursday. The court's ruling on standing, and any subsequent merits decision, will shape how US-regulated venues can offer perpetual-style crypto derivatives going forward.

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