US exchanges can now offer crypto-style perpetual futures on individual stocks
The CFTC says no-expiry futures on single stocks can trade under joint CFTC and SEC oversight, after this year's first US bitcoin perp.
By Jennifer Walsh ·
Why it matters: A leveraged product popularized in crypto can now be listed on US stocks under federal oversight, though no exchange has been named.
For information only, not investment advice. Prices delayed.
Perpetual futures, the no-expiry contracts that are a staple of crypto trading, can now be listed on individual US stocks. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said Tuesday that these "equity perps" can begin trading for the first time on CFTC-registered exchanges.
Unlike regular futures, perps never expire, and they often use leverage, which can amplify both gains and losses, CoinDesk notes. The new contracts were deemed approved as security futures, so both the CFTC and the SEC oversee them. Only exchanges that are also registered with the SEC to trade security futures can list them, the CFTC said.
Selig said the move builds on this year's approval of the first bitcoin perpetual futures contract on a CFTC-regulated exchange. “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,” he said.
Those offshore and onchain venues are not small. Perps did more than $630 billion in trading volume over the past month, according to DeFiLlama data cited by CoinDesk, with Hyperliquid a major venue. The NYSE's owner, Intercontinental Exchange ($ICE), recently invested in tradeXYZ, which builds perps markets on Hyperliquid.
Selig's statement didn't say which exchanges will offer equity perps or which stocks they'll cover, CoinDesk reported. Who gets to list perps is already a court fight: CME sued the CFTC in June over letting Kalshi and Coinbase ($COIN) list crypto perps, Reuters reported. The CFTC rejected CME's claim.
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Tags: regulation · exchanges · defi