Perpetual Stock Contracts Near Trading on Eligible U.S. Exchanges for First Time
Key Facts
On November 3, 2026, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael Selig said perpetual futures tied to individual stocks could begin trading for the first time on exchanges registered with the commission. The announcement opens a path to listing these products in the U.S. market, after perpetual contracts in the United States were associated primarily with digital assets. It does not mean trading has actually begun or that the product is available to all investors; the statement ties a possible start to exchanges that meet regulators' registration requirements. Selig said U.S. investors and traders would be able to access these products within the commission's protective framework rather than turn to offshore platforms that may be unregulated. The announcement brings individual stocks into the expansion of perpetual contracts, while actual listings and access remain subject to platform eligibility and procedures.
The statement defined eligible venues as designated contract markets registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and also registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as national securities exchanges for trading security futures products. The announcement therefore does not automatically open the market to any derivatives platform; it limits access to exchanges that meet the dual-registration requirements. Selig said the contracts were deemed certified by the commission under Regulation 40.3 as security futures products under the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000. These products are subject to the Commodity Exchange Act and federal securities laws, as well as the regulatory frameworks of both the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The arrangement reflects overlapping oversight of an instrument based on listed shares but offered as a futures contract.
The move follows an earlier expansion of regulated perpetual contracts in the United States from the digital-asset market. Selig said the commission approved the listing of the first true perpetual bitcoin futures contract earlier this year on an exchange it regulates. The commission chairman described the shift from digital commodities to traditional securities as an extension of that path. On March 11, 2026, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a memorandum of understanding to guide coordination and cooperation between them. The agencies said the cooperation aims to support lawful innovation, market integrity and investor and customer protection, while Selig's statement sets out the regulatory basis adopted for perpetual stock contracts.
By October 19, 2026, four derivatives exchanges registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission had filed to list perpetual contracts on large U.S.-listed stocks. The exchanges were Kalshi, Bitnomial, Coinbase Derivatives and OG.com, a Crypto.com affiliate. Evercore Sutherland said the proposed contracts were designed to trade continuously or nearly continuously from Sunday evening through Friday evening, including hours when the underlying stock markets are closed. A perpetual contract is a cash-settled derivative with no expiration date; these products use periodic funding payments to align the contract price with the stock's reference price. Under Kalshi's proposed rules, funding payments move from long to short position holders when the contract price exceeds the underlying stock price, and in the opposite direction when it falls below, with the aim of bringing the two prices closer at each daily settlement cycle.
Kalshi's proposed rules include a minimum customer margin of 15.50% of the current market value of the perpetual contract position. The rules also allow the exchange to halt, suspend or restrict trading when necessary to protect participants, address extraordinary circumstances or comply with the law. In a separate filing, Nadex proposed that its contracts trade 24 hours a day, five days a week, with each contract representing one share of the underlying stock, cash-settled and carrying no fixed expiration date or scheduled final settlement. Examples of eligible stocks in Nadex's filing included Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla. Nadex submitted its framework to the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 24, 2026, while the published filing noted that its application to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission had not been approved when the notice was published.
The effects of these contracts on underlying stock markets remain an open regulatory question. Evercore Sutherland said the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission had raised questions about their potential impact on liquidity, price discovery and hedging in markets trading the same stocks. In the case of a Kalshi rule change, the Securities and Exchange Commission may, after consulting the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, cancel the change within 60 days of its effective date, requiring the exchange to resubmit it under the rule-review process. This shows that opening a path to trading on eligible exchanges does not end the review of each operating framework or listing individually. Details of the rules and their review by the relevant agencies will remain part of the access process.