CFTC opens US exchanges to perpetual futures on individual stocks

A deemed approval under Regulation 40.3

On November 3, 2026, Michael S. Selig, Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), published a “Statement on Equity Perpetual Futures”, accompanied by a press release dated from Washington and numbered 9319-26. According to the statement, perpetual futures on individual equity securities, referred to as “Equity Perps”, can for the first time trade on exchanges registered with the CFTC.

The CFTC statement says the Commission has deemed these contracts approved under Regulation 40.3, as security futures products within the meaning of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 (CFMA). As a result, according to the statement, they fall under both the Commodity Exchange Act and federal securities laws, and under the regulatory frameworks of both the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The outcome did not stem from a vote of the Commission, as Ledger Insights and KuCoin News point out. Under the 40.3 procedure, a product filed by an exchange is deemed approved if the CFTC raises no objection within 45 days. According to Ledger Insights and Futu News, the review period for Kalshi's filing expired on November 2, 2026, the day before the statement was released.

A narrow circle of eligible exchanges

The statement restricts listing to exchanges that hold two statuses at once, according to its first footnote: designated contract market (DCM) with the CFTC, and national securities exchange registered with the SEC by simple notice for security futures. The text names no exchange, lists no contract and sets no launch date.

Selig presents the move as an extension of the approval of the first bitcoin perpetual contract, BTCPERP from KalshiEX LLC, authorised by an order dated May 29, 2026. In his statement, the perpetual format thus moves beyond digital assets to traditional securities. The text ties the new contracts to the joint CFTC-SEC framework created by the CFMA and to the memorandum of understanding signed by the two agencies on March 11, 2026 (CFTC release 9192-26).

“This expansion marks a significant step towards allowing U.S. market participants, consistent with applicable law, to avail themselves of the advantages of perpetual futures,” said Michael S. Selig, according to the CFTC press release. He also said he wants to avoid US traders being pushed towards offshore platforms that are “often unregulated”. Borrowing an expression used by SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins, he described the past situation of security futures as a regulatory “no man's land”, and stated that the CFTC and the SEC “have turned the page on that era”.

Kalshi first out, Coinbase Derivatives and Bitnomial in the queue

According to Yahoo Finance and FindKnowDo, Kalshi, Coinbase Derivatives and Bitnomial each filed plans on September 18, 2026 to list equity perpetuals. Yahoo Finance links Bitnomial to Payward, the parent company of Kraken. Kalshi's filing covers 58 contracts on large US companies, including Apple, Nvidia and Tesla, according to Yahoo Finance and MoneyCheck. The timetables of Coinbase Derivatives and Bitnomial remain unclear: their filings are described as still pending, and no launch date has been confirmed.

Kalshi opened trading on November 3 in perpetuals on four stocks, Qualcomm (QCOM), McDonald's (MCD), Amgen (AMGN) and Costco (COST), according to its product page and Futu News. Ledger Insights described a broader launch covering around fifty stocks and ETFs, and the list may have grown during the day. Kalshi already offered an index perpetual, US500, tied to the MerQube US Large Cap index and launched roughly a month before the statement, under an earlier approval.

The product terms come from the press and from Kalshi's page. The minimum margin required from clients is 15.5% of position value, for maximum leverage of about 6x on stocks, well below offshore levels, according to crypto.news and MoneyCheck. Leverage figures vary by source and contract: 4.9x shown per contract on Kalshi's page, “up to 6x” in Kalshi's own presentation, around 6.7x according to Coindoo. Trading is not continuous: it runs from Sunday 6 p.m. to Friday 5 p.m. New York time, with a daily break from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Funding is settled daily at Kalshi, while the Coinbase Derivatives proposal provides for hourly funding. The contracts give exposure to the share price only, with no voting rights and no dividends.

Opposition from Better Markets and a pending court case

Better Markets, a Washington-based financial reform organisation, criticises these products, describing them as a gambling tool that is dangerous for retail investors because of leverage and automatic liquidations during sharp declines. CME Group, for its part, is challenging the CFTC's framework for perpetuals in federal court, starting from Kalshi's bitcoin perpetual, according to Inside Bitcoins and Tech Times. CME argues that these contracts are swaps governed by the Dodd-Frank Act. The outcome of that case, and its possible reach to equity perpetuals, is not known.

What it means for traders

The clients concerned are those of US exchanges that are both DCMs and registered with the SEC for security futures. For now, Kalshi is the only one to have launched such contracts, with Coinbase Derivatives and Bitnomial still awaiting the outcome of their filings. These are exchange-listed security futures, not CFDs offered by a broker on MetaTrader or similar platforms. The announcements do not address access for clients outside the United States, nor any use by prop firms.

The leverage cap would be the most visible difference for traders used to offshore perpetuals. A 15.5% minimum margin limits leverage to around 6x, which would reduce the size of positions relative to capital. Funding would nonetheless remain a recurring flow to factor into every holding period: a position kept open for several days at Kalshi would pay or receive funding each day, and every hour under the Coinbase Derivatives design if it is approved as filed.

Trading hours would also shape strategies. With a Sunday-evening open, a Friday-afternoon close and a daily one-hour pause, open positions would carry over the weekend break, unlike crypto perpetuals that trade around the clock. The absence of dividends and voting rights means the product tracks price alone, a point that matters for traders comparing it with holding the shares or with dated futures.

Clients interested in these contracts would have reason to check with their exchange or broker on eligibility, margin rules, funding calculation and tax treatment, which the announcements do not detail. The legal risk also remains open: a ruling in CME's favour could, depending on its scope, call the framework into question. Clients of Coinbase would likewise have to wait for a confirmed timetable from Coinbase Derivatives before these contracts become available there.