Perpetual futures on single stocks can trade on CFTC-registered exchanges for the first time

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Tuesday, November 3, that perpetual futures contracts on individual equity securities can begin trading for the first time on CFTC-registered exchanges, according to a statement by Chairman Michael S. Selig.

Individual stocks join bitcoin on the list of perpetual contracts

A perpetual futures contract is a futures contract without an expiration date. Until now, the CFTC had approved the design for a digital commodity, bitcoin, and for broad stock indexes. The new contracts reference single companies' shares.

In its press release, the CFTC said the contracts can trade on designated contract markets that are also registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as notice-registered national securities exchanges for security futures products. Selig called perpetual futures "widely sought tools for risk-management and price-discovery."

He said that bringing them into regulated markets means American investors and traders can use them "within the protections of the CFTC's proven regulatory framework, rather than being forced to turn to offshore, and often unregulated, venues."

Approved as security futures, so both agencies' rules apply

According to Selig's statement, the contracts "were deemed approved by the Commission, pursuant to Commission Regulation 40.3, as security futures products" under the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000. That makes them subject to the Commodity Exchange Act, the federal securities laws and the regulatory frameworks of both the CFTC and the SEC.

Selig cited SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins, who has described security futures and similar products as stranded in a regulatory "no man's land" because the two agencies' rules were not harmonized. The CFTC and the SEC, Selig said, "have turned the page on that era."

Five months of steps that led to the stock version

Three earlier steps set the path. The CFTC and the SEC signed a memorandum of understanding on March 11, 2026, to coordinate their oversight and created a Joint Harmonization Initiative.

On May 29, the CFTC approved the BTCPERP contract submitted by KalshiEX, LLC, a perpetual contract that references the spot price of bitcoin. The same release said the perpetual design "may not be suitable for all asset classes" and encouraged market participants to submit other perpetual contracts for review.

On October 5, the CFTC's Division of Market Oversight issued no-action relief allowing exchanges to remove expiration dates from existing perpetual-style broad-based security index futures, on conditions that include advance notice and a chance to exit open positions. The relief expired on October 20, 2026.

What the announcement does not say

The statement does not name an exchange, a contract or a company whose shares will be covered, and it gives no date for a first listing. The press release says the contracts "can begin trading," which describes permission, not trading that has started.

It also does not describe the contract terms, such as how a perpetual contract's price is kept close to the underlying share price. The statement leaves those details out.

Permission is not a market, and the first listings will show the difference

We think the decision matters more for how crypto-style products are regulated than for crypto prices. A contract design born in digital-asset trading is now approved for company shares, on exchanges that answer to two agencies. Our reading is that this is the clearest sign yet of a convergence between crypto derivatives and traditional securities markets.

The opportunity is regulated access for traders who now rely on offshore platforms. The threat is that leveraged, always-open contracts on single stocks bring crypto's liquidation dynamics into equity markets, where the rules differ. We would watch which exchanges file first, what margin and price-tracking rules they set, and whether volume gathers in the regulated venues. We expect, conditional on those filings, that the first listings will be narrow and cautious; we do not forecast prices. Our view would change if the SEC were to object publicly to the approval route.

The view in this final section is FinanceInTime's editorial opinion, for information only. It is not investment, tax, legal or other advice, and it does not take your circumstances into account. Forecasts are uncertain and past results do not guarantee future ones.