CFTC's AI Futures Push
The CFTC has launched an Innovation Task Force to guide new crypto derivatives, explicitly including perpetual futures as a priority for modernization. New platforms like OneBullEx are already embedding AI‑driven research, validation and systematic execution tools directly into exchange infrastructure—pointing to an AI‑native future for crypto derivatives. ( )
Michael J. Passalacqua, identified by the CFTC as senior advisor to Chairman Michael S. Selig, will lead the new Innovation Task Force according to the agency’s March 24, 2026 press release. (cftc.gov) The task force’s formal remit lists three focus areas: crypto assets and blockchain technologies; artificial intelligence and autonomous systems; and prediction markets and event contracts. (cftc.gov) CFTC staff previously issued a Request for Comment on “Perpetual” style derivatives on April 21, 2025 and set a deadline of May 21, 2025 for submissions to inform how perpetual contracts would be treated under existing rules. (cftc.gov) At the Milken Institute’s Future of Finance conference, Chairman Michael Selig said the agency was “working toward getting perpetual futures… here in the US in the next month or so,” stressing the goal of recapturing liquidity that migrated offshore. (bloomberg.com) OneBullEx’s March 27, 2026 press release lays out a three‑layer AI‑native architecture: an exchange/execution layer, a “300 SPARTANS” systematic execution layer, and “OneALPHA,” a natural‑language-to‑code quantitative research pipeline that the company says uses a five‑agent workflow. (prnewswire.com) The OneBullEx release states strategies undergo walk‑forward testing before deployment and describes the platform as futures‑first and backed by OneMore Group; multiple outlets reporting the launch also characterize the project as regulated out of the Dubai International Financial Centre. ( ) OneBullEx’s announcement cites industry data that algorithms now execute roughly 70% of global trading volume and references Nasdaq’s M‑ELO order type results — a 20.3% increase in fill rates and an 11.4% reduction in price mark‑outs — to frame the efficiency gains it aims to embed at the exchange level. (prnewswire.com)
