CFTC Clears Perpetual Futures on Individual Stocks for US Exchanges
The CFTC said Tuesday that perpetual futures on individual stocks can trade on US exchanges registered with both the CFTC and SEC. No exchange, contracts or launch date were named, and CME's pending lawsuit over funding-payment contracts hangs over the product.
U.S.-regulated exchanges can now list perpetual futures on individual stocks, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Tuesday. The decision brings into the equity market a product that a year ago traded only on offshore crypto venues.
Chairman Michael Selig, in a statement posted on the CFTC site, said the contracts, which he called Equity Perps, are deemed approved under Commission Regulation 40.3 as security futures products. A CFTC press release accompanied the statement.
Who can list them
Eligible venues must hold a CFTC designated contract market registration and a notice registration with the SEC as a national securities exchange for security futures. Both agencies will oversee the contracts. Selig cited the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 and a CFTC-SEC memorandum of understanding signed March 11 as the legal basis.
The statement names no exchange, lists no contracts and sets no launch date. Those details are expected to come from the designated contract markets themselves.
"This expansion marks a significant step towards allowing U.S. market participants, consistent with applicable law, to avail themselves of the advantages of perpetual futures."
Michael Selig, CFTC Chairman
Perpetual futures, or perps, have no expiration date and often use leverage. DeFiLlama data shows more than $630 billion in perps trading volume over the past month.
The offshore argument
Selig framed the decision as a way to bring activity onshore.
"I believe that bringing these types of innovative products into our regulated markets ensures that American investors and traders can access these products within the protections of the CFTC's proven regulatory framework, rather than being forced to turn to offshore, and often unregulated, venues."
Michael Selig, CFTC Chairman
The clearance follows the Oct. 29 Binance hot wallet theft, which blockchain analytics firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis have tied to North Korea's TraderTraitor group. Loss estimates vary: some reporting puts the amount drained at about $6.3 billion, while our earlier coverage of the incident cited a range of $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion. Selig told CNBC on Oct. 30 that the episode proves the agency's point about offshore exchanges.
Precedent and pushback
Equity perps build on earlier U.S. approvals. The CFTC approved Kalshi's BTCPERP, the first U.S.-listed bitcoin perpetual, on May 29, and granted Coinbase Financial Markets no-action relief the same day. Kalshi added gold and silver perpetuals in September.
Those approvals remain contested. CME Group sued the CFTC in June over the Kalshi approval, arguing that a contract with funding payments is a swap, not a future. The case is pending. An equity version adds SEC jurisdiction and may draw objections from securities-side participants. Critics have also flagged the leverage, which can amplify both gains and losses.
What it means for the market
The clearance gives dual-registered exchanges a regulatory route for a product that has so far traded mainly offshore. Incumbents are already positioning: Trade.xyz said NYSE parent ICE is investing in it and plans a U.S. venue for 24/7 Hyperliquid-based perps, a plan that still needs CFTC approval. The timing of any equity perp listing now rests with the exchanges' own filings, while the CME litigation leaves the classification of the funding-payment structure unsettled.
