The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has approved equity perpetual futures for listing on regulated American exchanges, opening a federal pathway for open-ended derivatives tied to individual stocks such as Apple, Tesla, and Nvidia. The Nov. 3 approval, issued by CFTC Chair Michael S. Selig, puts the products into a joint CFTC and Securities and Exchange Commission framework, though litigation and potential SEC intervention could delay their debut.
Selig said the contracts qualify as security futures products under the Commodity Futures Modernization Act and can be handled through CFTC Regulation 40.3. That classification is central to the rollout: equity perpetuals would be governed under a shared securities-and-derivatives regime rather than overseen solely as commodities products.
The initial U.S. versions would also carry far tighter leverage limits than many offshore perpetual markets. Statutory security-futures margin requirements set a floor near 15%, limiting traders to roughly 6.5 times to 6.7 times leverage, depending on a venue's exact rules. Offshore platforms commonly offer substantially higher leverage on comparable products, creating a major difference in the capital needed to hold a position.
Four venues appear positioned to launch first after submitting filings between late September and early October and completing the 45-day review process. Each must operate a CFTC-registered designated contract market, clear contracts through a registered derivatives clearing organization, and register with the SEC through Form 1-N as a notice-registered national securities exchange.
Four exchanges prepare their contract designs
KalshiEX LLC filed its proposed equity perpetual rules in late September, following the exchange's May listing of a Bitcoin perpetual product. Its submission described 58 planned single-stock perpetual contracts, including contracts linked to Apple, Tesla, and Nvidia.
Kalshi's filing set a 15.50% initial margin requirement, corresponding to maximum leverage of about 6.5 times. It proposed trading nearly around the clock, from 6 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday until 5 p.m. Friday, with one hour of daily downtime. Funding would be calculated using observations during regular U.S. equity-market hours and settled each day.
Perpetual contracts do not have an expiration date. Instead, their funding mechanisms periodically transfer cash between long and short positions to help keep the derivative price aligned with the underlying stock. The way each venue calculates and settles that funding rate will shape how closely these products track shares when the cash equity market is closed.
Coinbase Derivatives, LLC submitted its SEC and CFTC materials on Sept. 18. Its proposed contracts would be cash-settled, meaning traders would not receive or deliver actual shares. Gains and losses would move through the customer's margin account instead.
Coinbase proposed an hourly funding calculation and cash settlement, with trading open from 8 p.m. Sunday through 5 p.m. Friday Eastern Time. Its filings refer to the 15% statutory margin floor for security futures, implying a maximum leverage level near 6.7 times.
Bitnomial Exchange, LLC filed its rule change on Sept. 18. The company, owned by Payward, would provide a route for Kraken to offer equity perpetual futures to eligible U.S. customers. Bitnomial's materials set a 15.25% customer margin floor for unhedged positions.
Nadex, operating as OG.com Markets within Crypto.com's North American derivatives business, submitted its CFTC filing on Sept. 24 after receiving SEC confirmation for its Form 1-N registration. Its rules add a chapter 16 covering cash-settled perpetual single-stock futures and a funding-rate system designed to update in real time.
The first group of products would therefore offer different hours, funding designs, and margin settings, while operating within the same core legal structure. Exchanges must also apply their own listing rules for issues including public float, trading volume, price integrity, and protections against manipulation.
Challenge focuses on whether perpetuals fit security-futures law
The approval immediately drew a legal challenge. On the same day, Capital Markets Alliance filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking to overturn the CFTC's action. The organization is backed by Cboe Global Markets, Citadel Securities, and the Healthy Markets Association.
Its complaint argues that a contract without a maturity date cannot meet the statutory definition of a "security future." Under that interpretation, perpetual contracts tied to stocks would instead be securities-based swaps, a category generally under SEC authority.
The lawsuit also alleges that the CFTC violated the Administrative Procedure Act by allowing the products to proceed through the 45-day process applicable to exchange rule submissions rather than adopting a new rule through a fuller notice-and-comment rulemaking process.
SIFMA and Nasdaq have separately urged the SEC to intervene. In letters to the agency, they argued that overnight trading could produce thinner liquidity than the regular stock-market session, making prices easier to distort and increasing the risk of rapid liquidations for retail traders using margin.
The SEC has a 60-day period following the CFTC approval in which it can review and potentially void the exchanges' rule changes. A court-issued temporary restraining order could also halt a launch before trading begins.
Established market operators and crypto firms pursue different routes
The first filings connect cryptocurrency-style perpetual trading mechanics with regulated U.S. equity-market infrastructure. Robinhood has separately selected OG.com as its clearing infrastructure partner for prediction markets, linking the company to an expanding U.S. trading stack that includes derivatives and event-based contracts.
Other firms are seeking ways into the market without being part of the first group. Lighter founder Vladimir Novakovski said on Oct. 21 that the company intends to apply in November for both designated contract market status and derivatives clearing organization registration. Novakovski said regulators can take up to 180 days to review an application after submission.
Hyperliquid is pursuing a partnership-based approach. On Oct. 29, Intercontinental Exchange, the parent of the New York Stock Exchange, said it would work with TradeXYZ, a HIP-3 market associated with the Hyperliquid ecosystem, on a regulated U.S. perpetuals market and clearing system. The project remains subject to regulatory approval.
The immediate contest is over jurisdiction and market safeguards rather than demand alone. If the filings survive SEC review and the court challenge, U.S. traders would gain regulated access to single-stock perpetuals with lower leverage and formal clearing protections than commonly available on offshore platforms. The next 60 days will determine whether those contracts reach trading screens or remain stalled between the CFTC, SEC, and federal court.
Want to see how perpetuals work in practice? Learn the mechanics in this perpetual futures explainer before trading regulated equity versions.
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