Coinbase, Kalshi and Kraken file to bring crypto-style perpetual futures to US stocks

Three crypto trading firms filed with US regulators over the past week to list perpetual futures tied to individual American stocks, a contract type that has been a staple of offshore crypto venues and is now being pointed at equities.

Coinbase Derivatives and the prediction market Kalshi both submitted applications dated September 18, and Payward, the parent company of Kraken, said it was filing rules and product terms through Bitnomial, its US-regulated exchange and clearinghouse, according to Finance Magnates. None of the proposals has been approved, and none of the contracts is available to trade.

What each firm asked for

Coinbase's application covers perpetual futures on more than 50 stocks and exchange-traded funds, Finance Magnates reported. Cointelegraph reported that The Wall Street Journal put the initial list at roughly 50 to 60 names including Apple, Microsoft, Tesla and Nvidia, and that Coinbase Derivatives had already filed a Form 1-N with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 1 to register as a national securities exchange for the purpose of offering security futures.

Kalshi filed 58 proposed equity-linked contracts, per Finance Magnates. Cointelegraph reported that Kalshi submitted a proposed rule change to the SEC and sent the products to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Friday, and that the contracts would be treated as security futures products cleared through Kalshi Klear, its CFTC-registered clearinghouse. Kalshi already runs US perpetual futures on Bitcoin, Ether, Solana and XRP.

Payward plans to start smaller, with ten US stocks including Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla. All three groups are aiming at 24/5 trading, though their proposed schedules differ.

Why the structure matters to traders

A perpetual future has no expiration date. Instead of settling on a set day, it uses recurring funding payments between long and short holders to keep the contract price tracking the underlying share. The proposed contracts would be cash settled, so a holder gets price exposure but no shares, no dividends and no voting rights.

That is the main difference from what already exists. CME Group launched 55 standard and 22 Micro single-stock futures on July 27, Finance Magnates reported. Those are quarterly contracts, so a trader who wants to hold exposure past maturity has to roll into the next month. A perpetual contract would stay open as long as margin is maintained.

Single-stock futures are classified in the US as security futures products, which puts them under joint SEC and CFTC oversight rather than the CFTC alone. That is part of why the approval path is slower than a standard commodity futures listing, and why none of these firms has named a launch date.

Crypto prices were quiet

The filings did not move spot crypto. As of Saturday evening in New York, Bitcoin traded at $81,070.50 on Coinbase, down about 0.2% over 24 hours, and Ether was at $2,627.45, essentially flat. Both are higher on the week: Bitcoin is up roughly 4.9% and Ether about 4.0% from a week earlier, based on Coinbase daily candles.

The broader backdrop is regulatory. Cointelegraph noted that the filings landed days after the CLARITY Act failed to clear a procedural vote in the Senate on September 15, and that SEC Chair Paul Atkins said afterward the agency would act within its existing authority.

Sources: Cointelegraph, Finance Magnates, Coinbase Exchange public market data. This is market information, not investment advice.