ChainThink reports that on September 2, according to filings in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, CFTC Chair Michael Selig and the CFTC have filed a motion to dismiss in response to the lawsuit brought by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).
The CFTC stated that the CME’s order and policy statement approving perpetual contracts for digital assets such as Bitcoin caused it harm, but the CME did not claim it could not list similar contracts— the order explicitly permits any CFTC-registered exchange to list perpetual contracts for digital commodities.
CME's primary request is to classify such contracts as "Swaps" rather than "Futures," but the committee considers perpetual contracts to be futures.
In addition, the CFTC noted that CME lacks standing under Article III of the Constitution: its claimed "textbook competitive injury" rests on the assumption that designated contract markets such as Kalshi can offer competing products to retail investors, but it fails to reasonably explain how its own profits or losses would be harmed as a result.
CME has publicly stated that its customers did not demand perpetual contract products, and that its crypto futures trading volume increased after the order was issued. Even if relabeled as "Swap," platforms like Kalshi can continue trading; the classification itself cannot remedy the alleged competitive harm.
The committee therefore requested the court to dismiss the lawsuit.