The CFTC lets stock perpetual futures trade on U.S. exchanges for the first time

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Tuesday that perpetual futures contracts on individual equity securities can begin trading for the first time on CFTC-registered exchanges. In its release and an accompanying statement, Chairman Michael S. Selig called it "a significant step" toward bringing products that have mostly traded offshore into the regulated U.S. market.

What a perpetual future is, and why it matters

An ordinary futures contract expires on a set date, and a trader who wants to keep the exposure has to roll into the next contract. A perpetual future has no expiry. A trader can hold the position as long as the margin holds up. Perpetuals became the dominant way to trade crypto derivatives on offshore venues, and the CFTC's statement describes them as widely sought tools for risk management and price discovery. Applying the same structure to single stocks means a trader could hold leveraged exposure to one company with no roll date.

What the CFTC actually said

Three points come straight from the statement:

• The contracts can trade on designated contract markets that are also registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as notice-registered national securities exchanges for security futures products.
• The CFTC says the contracts were "deemed approved" under its Regulation 40.3 as security futures products. That puts them under both the Commodity Exchange Act and the federal securities laws, so both agencies' rules apply.
• Selig tied the move to a March 2026 memorandum of understanding between the CFTC and the SEC, and to the May 29, 2026 order approving a bitcoin perpetual futures contract on KalshiEX, which the statement calls the first true bitcoin perpetual on a CFTC-regulated exchange.

It follows an October 5 step. That day the CFTC's Division of Market Oversight issued no-action relief letting exchanges convert existing perpetual-style broad-based security index futures into true perpetuals, by removing expiration dates, if they met customer-protection conditions such as advance notice and risk disclosures. Tuesday's announcement covers single stocks rather than indexes.

What we do not know yet

The CFTC release does not name which exchanges will list the contracts, which companies they will cover, or when trading starts. It also gives no contract specifications, margin levels or position limits. Those details will come from the exchanges' own rulebooks, and until they are published we cannot say what leverage or fees traders will face. We are not stating any of it here.

Who this affects

Active traders. Anyone who has used offshore crypto venues to take leveraged positions can now see a regulated alternative coming, with the clearing and customer protections that come with a CFTC-registered exchange. What it will cost to trade there is still open.

Traders of single-stock options and security futures. A no-expiry contract competes with both, since it offers continuous exposure without a strike or a date. Whether it takes meaningful volume depends on pricing and liquidity that have not been published.

Crypto exchanges. The CFTC says it wants products to stay onshore rather than push traders to "offshore, and often unregulated, venues." That is a direct statement of intent about where it wants this business to sit.

Everyone holding leveraged positions. A perpetual can be held as long as margin is posted, so a sharp move in a stock can force a liquidation at any time. This is the same mechanism behind the large crypto liquidations of the past year, and it is a risk of the product, not a prediction about these contracts.

What to watch next

The first things to look for are exchange filings or rule notices naming the first listed stocks, the margin requirements, and the first trading volumes. Our markets page and crypto section will cover those when they appear.

Sources: CFTC press release 9319-26 and Chairman Selig's statement (Nov. 3, 2026); CFTC press release 9308-26 (Oct. 5, 2026); the story was also reported by CoinDesk and MarketWatch on Nov. 3. This is market information, not investment advice. Leveraged products can lose more than the amount first posted.