PANews reported on June 15th, citing Bloomberg, that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is considering whether to block the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group's (CME) application to launch a 24/7 crude oil contract. A senior CFTC official stated that 24/7 trading may not be suitable for crude oil, as it could exacerbate already extreme volatility during periods of geopolitical tension. The CFTC was surprised by CME's announcement last Thursday of plans to launch 24/7 crude oil and gold futures contracts. The new crude oil contract will be one-tenth the size of the existing micro-WTI futures contract and is scheduled to launch on August 30th, subject to regulatory review. A week ago, the CME CEO expressed "serious concerns" about the CFTC paving the way for cryptocurrency perpetual contracts. The CFTC stated that it will evaluate perpetual contract applications on a case-by-case basis, and that certain assets may not be suitable for the product.