CFTC Approves Stock Perpetual Futures Trading — SkimNews
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- CFTC announced approval of equity perpetual futures trading after September filings by Coinbase, Kalshi, Payward through its Bitnomial exchange and OG.com, which sought contracts tied to individual US stocks.
- Kalshi received CFTC approval in May for Bitcoin perpetual futures contracts, while separate relief allowed Coinbase to provide access to certain cryptocurrency perpetual futures on an affiliated foreign exchange.
- OG.com proposed around-the-clock weekday trading for equity-perpetual contracts, joining the September filings days after the initial wave.
- Selig did not identify which exchanges would offer the contracts or provide a timeline for when trading would begin.
- CME Group sued CFTC in June, arguing the approved cryptocurrency perpetual contracts are swaps rather than futures and that the agency exceeded its authority; swaps fall under different regulatory requirements.
- CFTC moved in September to dismiss CME Group's lawsuit, arguing CME lacked standing because it had not demonstrated financial harm and had the ability to list similar contracts itself.
- Trump said on Aug. 19 at a White House event that CFTC was working to bring Hyperliquid into the US in a “fully compliant and legal fashion,” though neither had announced a formal plan at the time.
Why it matters: The CFTC approval is the key regulatory step for Coinbase, Kalshi, Payward/Bitnomial and OG.com’s equity-perpetual proposals, but Selig supplied no launch date or venue, so rollout remains unscheduled. CME’s June lawsuit also makes classification consequential: futures use the existing exchange framework, while swaps face different margin, reporting and registration requirements.
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