US Regulator Greenlights Stock Perpetual Futures, Moving a Crypto Favorite Into Regulated Markets

On Tuesday, Chairman Michael Selig announced that perpetual contracts linked to single company shares can now list on registered American exchanges, a first for the country. Because these contracts qualify under current security futures rules, both the CFTC and the SEC will supervise them. Selig said the goal is to give traders a protected, regulated route so they are not pushed toward offshore venues that often operate with little oversight. No exchange or starting list of stocks has been named yet.

What Makes Perps Different From Standard Futures

A perp lets someone take a view on price without holding the underlying asset. There is no settlement date, and leverage is common, so profits and losses can grow quickly. The format became popular in crypto, especially on offshore platforms and decentralized markets like Hyperliquid.

Washington’s Push to Bring Perps Onshore

The administration has treated this market as a priority. A regulated bitcoin perpetual was approved earlier this year, and in August President Trump said the agency was working on a way to bring Hyperliquid under US rules. Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the NYSE, has also put money into tradeXYZ, a company building perp markets on Hyperliquid.

Legal Basis and Agency Cooperation

Stock based derivatives sit under both securities and commodities law, which had held equity perps back. The new approval relies on a 2000 law that allows shared SEC and CFTC oversight, and the two agencies have promised closer coordination on products that cross their boundaries.