Crypto Giants Back CFTC in Court Fight Over Single Stock Perpetual Futures

Six major trading and crypto companies are asking a federal court for permission to file a supporting brief on behalf of the CFTC. The group includes Coinbase, Kalshi, Kraken’s parent Payward, DRW Holdings, Jump Trading and Paradigm. Their request, filed Monday, responds to a lawsuit brought last week by the Capital Markets Alliance, an industry body whose members include Cboe and Citadel Securities. That suit aims to undo the agency’s approval of stock-linked perpetual contracts. Coinbase, Kalshi and Payward had applied to list these products, and their applications were deemed approved on Nov. 2.

What Equity Perps Are and Why the Dispute Matters

Perpetual futures let traders bet on price moves without owning the asset, and unlike standard futures they never expire. A ruling that keeps the approvals in place would protect the route for these firms to offer or grow the products inside the US.

Capital Markets Alliance Argues the CFTC Overstepped

The alliance says that because these contracts have no set end date, they should be seen as security-based swaps, which cannot trade on CFTC regulated venues. It claims the agency went beyond its authority and into territory belonging to the SEC.

Crypto Firms Say the SEC Was Involved From the Start

The companies reject that view, noting that the SEC was part of the process from the beginning and that both agencies jointly asked the public whether perpetual contracts should count as security futures. Coinbase general counsel Molly Abraham said that under the framework Congress set in 2000, security futures products are not swaps.