CFTC Lets Traders Bet on Stocks With Crypto-Style Perpetual Futures

In brief

• The CFTC cleared perpetual futures on individual stocks to trade on registered U.S. exchanges for the first time, bringing the expiration-free, leveraged instrument long popular in crypto to traditional equities.
• Chairman Michael Selig framed it as part of his push to “onshore” perpetual products, building on the agency’s earlier approval of Bitcoin perps for Kalshi.
• The contracts fall under joint CFTC-SEC oversight via a March memorandum of understanding.

The U.S. derivatives regulator has opened the door to perpetual futures on individual stocks, importing one of crypto’s most popular trading instruments into traditional equity markets for the first time.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Tuesday that “equity perpetual futures,” or perpetual contracts tied to individual stocks, can now begin trading on CFTC-registered exchanges.

Perpetual futures, long a staple of crypto markets, are derivatives that track an asset’s price but carry no expiration date, letting traders hold leveraged positions indefinitely as long as they meet margin and funding requirements. Until now, they’ve been largely off-limits to U.S. traders.

Chairman Michael Selig framed the move as the latest step in a campaign to bring perpetual products onshore.