What Does BitMEX’s Closure Reveal About New US Routes for Crypto Perpetuals?

BitMEX is set to close its exchange on 23 September after an 11-year run, putting the spotlight on US regulatory pathways for crypto perpetuals that were unavailable when the venue helped build the market. The exchange said the shutdown followed a strategic review; neither BitMEX nor the CFTC has linked the move to recent regulatory changes.

Perpetual contracts spent years offshore because no practical domestic route existed. The CFTC had raised scrutiny through staff advisories in 2018 and 2023. BitMEX used an offshore, direct-access model, but in 2020 the CFTC alleged it accepted orders and funds from US customers without registering as a futures commission merchant and that its KYC and AML controls were inadequate. BitMEX settled with the CFTC and FinCEN for $100 million in 2021.

The regulatory picture shifted in March 2025 when the CFTC withdrew both advisories. Acting Chair Caroline Pham opened a consultation on perpetual contracts the next month, and Bitnomial self-certified BTC/USD perpetual futures, starting institutional trading. In May 2026, the CFTC formally approved Kalshi's bitcoin perpetual, issued a wider policy statement and published guidance for 24/7 trading, clearing and settlement. It also recognised certain Deribit perpetuals described in Coinbase Financial Markets' request as foreign futures and granted related no-action relief. Chairman Michael Selig said the policy was meant to bring offshore liquidity under US oversight and manage leverage, volatility and systemic risk inside a regulated framework.

The routes differ by regulatory wrapper. Bitnomial and Kalshi are designated contract markets, with Bitnomial relying on self-certification and Kalshi on formal approval. Coinbase's route works through its registered futures commission merchant, which can connect customers to qualifying contracts on Deribit under the foreign-futures framework. Deribit itself remains a non-US exchange.

BitMEX's closure does not spell the end of offshore perpetuals. Binance and OKX accounted for roughly 33% and 15%, respectively, of volume among the 11 centralised perpetual exchanges tracked by CoinGecko from January to April 2026. BitMEX had already ceded its earlier dominance by April 2020, when its daily bitcoin futures volume trailed Binance, OKEx and Huobi. No reliable data reviewed shows liquidity moving specifically from offshore platforms to CFTC-regulated venues since 2025.

The defined routes come with obligations. The CFTC's 24/7 guidance flags margin and customer-fund risks when banks are closed; brokers must consider disclosure updates, while exchanges and clearing houses must assess resilience, staffing and controls. Nor is the framework a blanket green light: underlyings outside the Kalshi order face case-by-case review, and Coinbase's relief is subject to conditions. Outside the US, OKX offers perpetuals on major US equities and ETFs in supported jurisdictions, and in July began offering contracts tied to licensed ICE Brent and WTI prices. For brokers and exchanges, the immediate change is that perpetuals now have identifiable regulated routes in the US — but the route depends on who lists the contract, who intermediates access and what the underlying asset is.