CFTC Opens Trading in Single-Stock Perpetual Futures for the First Time on Registered Platforms
Key Facts
On November 3, 2026, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael Selig said perpetual futures linked to individual stocks could begin trading for the first time on platforms registered with the agency. The statement limited the route to designated contract markets also registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as national securities exchanges registered by notification to trade security futures products. This allows the contracts to be listed within a regulated framework under the jurisdiction of both agencies, rather than opening trading to all eligible exchanges. Selig said making the products available domestically gives U.S. investors and traders access under the “CFTC’s tried-and-tested regulatory safeguards.” He added that this route reduces the need for them to turn to platforms outside the United States, “which are often unregulated.”
The agency’s statement relied on Regulation 40.3, under which the products were deemed approved, and the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000. The agency classifies the contracts as security futures products, instruments subject to a joint regulatory framework between the CFTC and SEC. This classification reflects the product’s dual nature: it is a futures contract on one hand and linked to a security on the other. The 2000 law established the framework for joint regulation of these products by the two agencies. The launch route is therefore tied to the limits of dual registration and to how regulatory rules apply to the relevant platforms and contracts.
The announcement follows a CFTC policy statement issued on May 29, 2026, which said perpetual contracts linked to assets not covered by its decision at the time, including stocks, required separate review and approval. The agency then pointed to issues involving market structure, customer protection and resistance to manipulation. Perpetual contracts have no fixed expiration date, so they need an alternative mechanism to help keep their price close to the spot price. In the common model, funding rates serve this purpose through periodic payments between holders of long and short positions. ICE and the CFTC explained that the absence of an expiration date rules out the traditional convergence mechanism provided by contract expiry, making the funding mechanism a key element of the product’s design.
The announcement sparked a legal dispute the same day, as Capital Markets Alliance filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to challenge the approval route. The group argues that the contracts are security-based swaps and therefore fall under the SEC’s jurisdiction, and it is seeking to overturn the policy that enabled the route. It also says the CFTC did not adequately explain its policy. Cboe said on November 3 that it had joined the legal action. It said the alliance includes Cboe, Citadel Securities and the Healthy Markets Association, putting the boundary between the two agencies’ jurisdictions at the center of the challenge.
In a separate commercial move linked to the infrastructure of these markets, ICE and Trade[XYZ] announced a definitive agreement on October 29 to bring Trade[XYZ] markets built on Hyperliquid to the United States. The agreement makes ICE the exclusive operator of the proposed regulated markets, with implementation of the structure still subject to regulatory approvals. The initiative connects Hyperliquid’s infrastructure with a regulated U.S. market system, but does not mean the contracts are already available through this route. Selig’s statement did not identify the exchanges that would list the contracts or the stocks available at launch. The specific products and platforms remain dependent on upcoming regulatory and commercial steps.
The CFTC is scheduled to release its Commitments of Traders report on November 6, 2026, at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time, according to the agency’s provisional schedule. The report typically presents data for the previous week through Tuesday, while federal holidays may delay publication by a day or two. The date follows the agency’s announcement that trading in single-stock perpetual futures could begin, but it is a regular release of data on traders’ positions. The official schedule did not directly link the report to the new contracts or the legal dispute over them. It is the next official release date cited in the information available on this development.