CFTC Approves Single-Stock Perpetual Futures in Historic Breakthrough
Cointime reports: On November 3, CFTC Chairman Mike Selig announced that single-stock perpetual futures have been approved for trading on CFTC-regulated exchanges, marking the first time these crypto-native derivatives enter the U.S. regulated securities framework. The products will fall under dual CFTC and SEC oversight as security futures under the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000.
Kalshi immediately listed perpetual contracts on Amgen, McDonald’s, Qualcomm, and Costco with up to 4.9x leverage. This follows a March SEC-CFTC memorandum of understanding and the May approval of Kalshi’s bitcoin perpetual, setting the stage for traditional assets to adopt crypto’s most successful trading innovation.
Why Perpetuals Matter
Perpetual futures, pioneered by BitMEX in 2016, eliminate expiry dates, allowing traders to hold positions indefinitely while funding rates tether contract prices to spot. They now account for roughly 75% of centralized crypto exchange volume—nearly $49 trillion in 2025—and 83% in Q3 2026. Extending this structure to equities offers continuous leverage and shorting without roll costs, a stark contrast to margin trading, options, or traditional futures.
The Crypto-to-TradFi Pipeline
Crypto platforms have spent the past year building the infrastructure. Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and Ondo launched stock perpetuals for non-U.S. users, while Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 opened market creation to third parties. ICE, owner of the NYSE, is now partnering with Trade[XYZ] to bring Hyperliquid-based perpetuals into the U.S. under a regulated framework. Meanwhile, the SEC approved Nasdaq’s 23-hour trading plan, and the CFTC will hold a December roundtable on 24/7 derivatives markets.
Implications and Outlook
The approval shifts weekend price discovery from offshore crypto venues to U.S.-regulated markets. Traditional market makers like Citadel Securities and Jane Street can now participate in cross-venue arbitrage and hedging, deepening liquidity links between TradFi and crypto. As both worlds converge on round-the-clock trading, the competition is no longer about crypto versus TradFi—it’s about who builds the next-generation always-on market infrastructure fastest.
