Jason Gottlieb Discusses Regulatory and Tax Uncertainty Surrounding Perpetual Futures in CoinDesk

Morrison Cohen Partner Jason Gottlieb, chair of the firm's Digital Assets Practice, was quoted in a CoinDesk article examining the legal and tax questions surrounding perpetual futures contracts in the United States.

The article explores the ongoing legal challenge between CME Group and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over whether perpetual futures should be classified as futures or swaps. The outcome could have significant implications for market participants, including how these products are regulated and taxed.

Jason explained that the broad statutory definition of swaps leaves considerable room for interpretation when applied to emerging financial products such as perpetual futures. “Basically, the statutory definition of swaps is so broad as to encompass … anything,” he said.

He also discussed the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 Loper Bright decision, noting that courts are now more likely to independently interpret ambiguous statutes rather than defer to agency interpretations. “My view is that there's going to be a lot of litigation about it, and the Supreme Court has told courts that if there is ambiguity in the statute, they can ignore the CFTC and read the statute for themselves,” Jason said.

Read the full article in CoinDesk here.