CFTC Clears Perpetual Futures on Individual Stocks for U.S. Exchanges
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said perpetual futures on individual stocks may list on U.S. exchanges registered with both the CFTC and the SEC, a first for the product. Kalshi, Coinbase Derivatives and Bitnomial have filed proposed rules, but no launch date is set and a CME Group lawsuit over the agency's earlier perpetual futures decision remains pending.
Written by CoinArticle’s AI Newsroom · from 3 cited sources. How we work
Story Updates
- Updated Nov 3, 2026, 04:09 PM: Kalshi, Coinbase Derivatives and Bitnomial filed proposed rules with margin floors and trading schedules for stock perpetuals.
What the CFTC Approved
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Nov. 3 that perpetual futures on individual equities, which the agency calls "Equity Perps," can begin trading on CFTC-registered U.S. exchanges for the first time. Chairman Michael Selig said the contracts were deemed approved under Commission Regulation 40.3 as security futures products under the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000.
To list, an exchange must hold a CFTC designated contract market registration and a notice registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a national securities exchange for security futures. The statement names no exchange and sets no launch date. Perpetual futures have no expiration date; long and short holders instead exchange periodic funding payments that keep the contract price tied to the spot price.
Proposed Rules from Exchanges
Kalshi, Coinbase Derivatives and Bitnomial filed rules ahead of the announcement describing their proposed stock futures markets. Kalshi's filing sets a minimum customer margin of 15.50% of a position's current market value, and requires underlying securities to have a market capitalization of at least $100 billion, more than 20 million shares of estimated deliverable supply and $450 million in average daily trading value over six months. Its proposed trading schedule runs from Sunday 6 p.m. Eastern through Friday 5 p.m., with a daily break from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Coinbase's filing covers cash-settled futures on individual stocks and ETF shares, with margin requirements of at least 15% of current market value. Its September application outlined more than 50 single-stock perpetuals. Bitnomial proposed a 15.25% customer-margin floor. Contract-specific details on trading hours, pricing and funding arrangements are expected in materials from each venue.
Building on the May Bitcoin Decision
The equity approval extends a sequence that began in crypto. The CFTC approved the first U.S.-listed bitcoin perpetual, Kalshi's BTCPERP, on May 29, and Kalshi launched it shortly after. The same day, CFTC staff granted no-action relief allowing Coinbase Financial Markets to route U.S. clients into offshore perpetual and options liquidity. Kalshi added gold and silver perpetuals in September.
The CFTC and SEC signed a memorandum of understanding on March 11 to coordinate rulemaking and enforcement for these products.
Disputed Legal Classification
The CFTC's reading is not settled. CME Group sued the agency in June over the Kalshi approval, arguing that a contract built on exchanged funding payments is a swap under Dodd-Frank rather than a future. That case is pending. An equity version adds SEC jurisdiction, and securities-side participants may raise separate objections.
Context from the Binance Hack
The approval came five days after what TRM Labs and Chainalysis have linked to North Korea's TraderTraitor group drained about $6.3 billion from Binance's hot wallets in roughly 20 minutes on Oct. 29. Binance reopened withdrawals on Sunday and says it has replenished about 95% of affected assets. Selig told CNBC on Oct. 30 that the exchanges involved are "unregulated offshore exchanges," and tied the incident to an October advance notice of rulemaking proposing a voluntary federal registration path for crypto exchanges. Selig has said the CFTC cannot make that registration mandatory without Congress.
Why It Matters
For Traders
No launch date or contract list has been published by any venue, so near-term access to U.S.-regulated equity perpetuals is unconfirmed, though the filed margin and trading-hour terms give a preview of the product.
For Investors
A U.S. regulatory path for perpetuals on stocks would bring a derivatives structure long concentrated offshore into SEC and CFTC jurisdiction, though the pending CME challenge leaves its legal classification open.
For Builders
Protocols and venues designing perpetual products should track whether the CME suit reclassifies funding-payment contracts as swaps, since that would change registration and rulebook requirements.
This article is for information only and is not financial advice. Read the full disclaimer.
