The CFTC has sparked a potential revolution on Wall Street. Exchange stocks are dropping
In this article ICE NDAQ.SPX Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Traders work in the S&P options trading pit at the Cboe Global Markets
In this article ICE NDAQ.SPX Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Traders work in the S&P options trading pit at the Cboe Global Markets exchange on March 31, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. Scott Olson | Getty Images Shares of exchange stocks are tumbling after the regulatory approval of perpetual futures for bitcoin ignited concerns that a new wave of trading products could pose an existential threat for Wall Street. CME Group, known for its derivatives and futures trading platforms, dropped more than 2% in Tuesday's session. The stock is down more than 8% over the last two days and is poised to record its biggest weekly drop since 2020. Cboe Global Markets, an exchange and derivatives network, plunged more than 8% in Tuesday trading. That brought its losses for this week to more than 17%, also pacing for its largest weekly decline going back to 2020.
Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon CME Group, 5 days New York Stock Exchange parent Intercontinental Exchange slid more than 1% on Tuesday and is down more than 3% for the week. Nasdaq shares tumbled more than 5% in the session, dragging the stock into the red week to date. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission last week approved perpetual futures — a type of future-style contract with no expiration date — for bitcoin trading on Kalshi. This tool, known in short as "perps," is popular among retail traders abroad. Investors are worried that the CFTC could give the green light to other asset classes to trade via perpetual futures next. That could increase competition for the traditional exchanges that have long dominated on Wall Street. Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon Cboe, 5 days The "concern is that perps could come to equity products, and potentially displace CME/CBOE S&P products," Barclays analyst Ben Budish told clients in a Tuesday note.
Budish said perpetual futures could provide a competitive challenge to certain products that target retail investors. But the analyst said there's already comparable offerings in the U.S. that haven't meaningfully changed how retail investors trade so far. Despite the recent pullback, RBC analyst Ashish Sabadra said the competitive risk can be managed because there are "fundamental" differences between perpetual future mechanisms and those offered by exchanges. Sabadra said perpetual futures may face leverage limits from clearing houses as a way to mitigate risk and that there's limited institutional interest. In other words: Investors are "shooting first and asking questions later," said Jay Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital Markets. "There [may be] merit on the news for a minor setback," Woods said. "But this seems like a major overreaction to me." Perpetual futures aren't the only challenge facing exchange providers in the eyes of traders, according to David Krakauer, vice president of portfolio management at Mercer Advisors.
Investors are worried that financial technology companies and other platforms could begin offering products that rival those from traditional exchanges, Krakauer said. What's more, he said stakeholders in these stocks are wondering if the rise of prediction markets will draw attention away from conventional asset classes. watch now Growing interest
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