The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has formally opened the door for individual-equity perpetual futures to trade on registered domestic exchanges, setting up a regulatory and legal fight that is pulling in some of the largest names in crypto and traditional markets.
CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said on November 3 that the products can begin trading on CFTC-registered exchanges that also meet applicable SEC registration requirements. The contracts are being treated as security-futures products under an existing Commission regulation and are subject to both commodities and federal securities law. The announcement follows the earlier approval of a Bitcoin perpetual futures product on a regulated U.S. venue.
Perpetual futures have no set expiration date and use contract-specific mechanisms to keep their price tied to the underlying asset. They have become a mainstay of crypto derivatives trading, often on lightly regulated offshore venues. Extending the structure to individual stocks raises questions around corporate actions, trading halts, shareholder rights and clearing. The CFTC stressed that the product is a derivative, not the underlying share, and that traders must understand how price adjustments and margin calls work.
On Monday, a group of crypto and trading firms — Coinbase, Kalshi, Kraken parent Payward, DRW Holdings, Jump Trading and Paradigm — moved for court permission to file an amicus brief supporting the CFTC. The filing responds to a lawsuit filed last week by the Capital Markets Alliance, whose members include Cboe and Citadel Securities. The CMA argues that because equity perps do not expire, they should be classified as security-based swaps rather than futures and therefore cannot be listed on CFTC-regulated exchanges.
The crypto firms countered that the SEC was involved from the start and that the agencies jointly sought public comment on whether perpetual contracts should be classified as security futures. Coinbase General Counsel Molly Abraham wrote on X that under the Commodity Exchange Act and the 2000 securities futures framework, security futures products are not swaps. Coinbase Vice Chairman Ryan VanGrack added: "U.S. investors deserve access to these markets under the strong consumer protections and joint oversight of the CFTC and SEC. The U.S. should lead, not cede, this space." Coinbase, Kalshi and Payward said their applications to list equity perps tied to U.S. stocks were deemed approved on November 2.
