ICE's perpetual futures plan faces CFTC guidance on markets beyond crypto
In a 24 hour snapshot of its offshore menu, most of Trade[XYZ]'s Hyperliquid volume was company linked contracts, a CTOL grouping. The CFTC's Order covers digital commodities only, and its Policy Statement says other classes should be submitted for a voluntary Regulation 40.3 review.
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and Trade[XYZ] announced on 29 October a definitive agreement to operate Trade[XYZ]'s proposed perpetual markets onshore in the United States, "subject to regulatory approvals". The agreement is described in ICE's release. A perpetual future has no expiry date.
ICE would become exclusive operator of the proposed US markets and take a minority investment. ICE says the stake is "not expected to have a material impact on ICE's 2026 adjusted financial results". ICE says the proposed market would target retail traders across "crypto, equities, commodities, foreign exchange" and other assets.
CoinDesk reported that the planned ICE[XYZ] venue was intended to cover equities, indices, commodities, FX and crypto, pending CFTC approval. ICE's release names no contract list and no exchange.
What the CFTC guidance covers
The CFTC approved Kalshi's BTCPERP perpetual contract on 29 May. The Order covers "bitcoin or other digital commodities that have deep, active, and continuous spot market trading". It "does not extend to underlying asset classes other than digital commodities".
The CFTC's Policy Statement, adopted the same day, states the Commission's view that contracts on other classes "should be submitted" to the "voluntary product approval process" under Regulation 40.3. It is guidance, not a rule. It "does not impose any obligation on any person". A footnote says equity securities and narrow based security indexes "would benefit from review by the Commission and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission". Each contract "will continue to be evaluated on its own terms".
What the offshore market trades
ICE's release says Trade[XYZ] offers eligible users outside the United States 24/7 perpetuals on equities, equity indices, commodities and currencies. Hyperliquid's data, read at 20:35 UTC on 29 October, shows 141 markets and $4.6 billion of notional volume in 24 hours.
CTOL grouped the 141 tickers by name. It associated 99 of them with companies, such as single name stocks. Those contracts accounted for $3.1 billion of the $4.6 billion, about two thirds. Treating all 12 tickers CTOL could not classify as not company linked, the share is $2.9 billion, or 63 percent. This is a CTOL grouping, not a CFTC asset class.
Bitcoin, HYPE and ether trade in Hyperliquid's separate native set, outside this snapshot. The Trade[XYZ] mix is the offshore menu on one news day, not a list ICE has put forward.
The routes to regulatory review
A 5 October staff letter covered only conversion of existing broad based index futures. It lapsed on 20 October.
The same letter directed those conversions to Regulations 40.5 or 40.6 rather than Regulation 40.3. Its footnotes record that KalshiEX submitted a US500 futures contract for initial listing under Regulation 40.3 on 18 August.
ICE says it would clear the retail market separately. Customers would come "through futures commission merchants ('FCMs') that become members of the platform".
The CFTC's Policy Statement says perpetuals on asset classes other than digital commodities should be submitted for voluntary Regulation 40.3 review. It is guidance, and each contract is judged on its own terms. ICE's release says its plan is subject to regulatory approvals.
A staff letter footnote records KalshiEX's 18 August submission of a US500 equity index futures contract for initial listing under Regulation 40.3. The open question is which contracts ICE will propose and under which route. The CFTC's roundtable on 15 December concerns the separate issue of 24/7 trading.