CFTC Clears Individual-Stock Perpetual Futures for US Exchanges

Individual-stock perpetual futures are cleared to trade in the United States. CFTC chairman Michael Selig said on November 3 that the contracts can begin trading on exchanges registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that also satisfy the SEC's registration requirements. The agency deemed the products approved under an existing Commission regulation as security-futures instruments, meaning they answer to both commodity and federal securities rules.

Perpetual futures skip the expiry date that defines a traditional contract, relying on contract-specific mechanics to keep the price tethered to the underlying asset. That design made them a staple of crypto derivatives desks, mostly on venues outside the US. The shift into equities follows an earlier green light for a Bitcoin perpetual futures product on a regulated domestic exchange.

Stocks bring complications crypto pairs never had to handle: corporate actions, shareholder rights, trading halts and mismatched market hours. Buyers are getting a derivative, not the shares themselves, so the payout mechanics and price adjustments matter. Those details land in the contract specifications, alongside margin arrangements, eligible customers, clearing and reference prices.

Selig pitched the move as a joint effort, pointing to an interagency memorandum of understanding signed with the SEC earlier in 2026. The dual-oversight setup is a hard break from the lightly policed offshore venues that built the perpetual market. The argument from regulators is that traders get a clearer set of safeguards on supervised domestic exchanges.

The CFTC's language matters here. 'Can begin trading' opens a regulatory door, and it is not confirmation that every broker already offers every contemplated contract. Regulated or not, continuous leveraged exposure still leaves room for margin calls, sharp price swings, thin liquidity and market disruptions to burn traders badly.