CFTC Clears Stock Perpetual Futures: How Coinbase, Kraken and Kalshi Won the Right to Trade Equity Perps in the US
On November 3, 2026, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission opened a door Wall Street and crypto have both been knocking on for years. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said perpetual futures on individual stocks — which the agency calls "Equity Perps" — can begin trading on US-regulated exchanges for the first time. The announcement does not, by itself, put a single new contract on anyone's screen. No exchange has announced a launch date, and no final list of stocks is confirmed. But the approval changes the shape of American trading: the product that made offshore crypto exchanges dominant is now cleared, in stock form, for the regulated US market.
The filings behind the decision landed on September 18, 2026. Kalshi and Coinbase filed stock-perp products, and Kraken's parent filed through Bitnomial. By one count, those filings arrived 46 days before the announcement — almost exactly the CFTC's standard 45-day review window. That tidy timing matters because it suggests this was a normal regulatory process reaching a normal conclusion, not a rushed exception. The path was already partly paved: on May 29, 2026, the CFTC approved the first bitcoin perpetual future on a US exchange, Kalshi's BTCPERP. Equity perps are the next step along the same road.
What the filings actually cover
The details that are public so far are specific enough to trade on — and incomplete enough to be careful about. Kraken's filing named 10 US stocks, including Tesla, Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon. Kalshi's filing reportedly covers 58 stocks and ETFs. Those numbers come from reporting on the filings, not from a final exchange announcement, so treat them as the proposed scope rather than the launch list. Which stocks make the first cut, what leverage will be offered, and which brokers will carry the contracts are all still open questions, as of November 4. Access will depend on brokers and on suitability checks that neither agency has fully detailed yet.
That incompleteness is not a footnote; it is the story for the next few weeks. An approval with no launch date is a starting gun, not a finish line. The exchanges now have to build, clear and distribute these contracts, and the first listing — which stock, on which venue, at what terms — will tell traders more than the approval itself did.
Why perps matter — and why stocks change the argument
Perpetual futures, commonly called perps, differ from traditional futures because they never expire. Traders hold leveraged exposure indefinitely, with funding payments keeping the contract price near the spot price. That structure is why perps became crypto's dominant trading product offshore: no expiry to manage, no roll to pay for, just continuous exposure. Bringing that structure to individual US stocks, on regulated venues, is a genuine novelty. It is also why the approval has split opinion.
Supporters argue that regulated equity perps give US traders a compliant route to a product they have previously had to seek offshore, with clearing, oversight and customer protections attached. Critics worry about leverage on single names, about retail traders holding volatile positions around earnings, and about what happens when a stock gaps on news while perp holders are leveraged. Both arguments will be tested by the first real trading data, not by the announcement.
The rivals: tokenized stocks are a different product
It is important not to confuse equity perps with tokenized stocks, even though the same companies are involved in both. ICE, owner of the New York Stock Exchange, invested on October 29 in a perp venue and plans a US market, while ICE and OKX are separately working on round-the-clock tokenized stocks — digital tokens that track shares. Large companies including Nvidia, Microsoft and Alphabet have objected to tokenized-stock plans. A tokenized stock tracks a share; an equity perp is a futures contract on a share. One is ownership-like exposure, the other is a leveraged derivative. They will compete for some of the same traders, but they are regulated differently, they fail differently, and they should not be described as the same thing.
Europe offers a useful contrast. Six large exchanges hold an EU licence for crypto futures and all cap retail leverage on Bitcoin at 10x — Kraken, Coinbase, OKX, Gemini, Robinhood and One Trading. Coinbase and OKX use five-year futures kept near spot by a funding rate, while Kraken, Gemini, Robinhood and One Trading list genuine perpetuals. The US equity-perp launch will be watched against that template: how much leverage, what protections, and how quickly the product scales.
What to watch next
Three things decide whether equity perps become a real market or a press release. First, the launch date and the first stock list — watch the exchanges' own announcements, not social-media speculation. Second, distribution: which brokers and platforms actually carry the contracts, and what suitability checks they apply. Third, the first earnings season with perps live: a leveraged contract on a single stock behaves very differently around a results gap than an index future does. Until those answers arrive, the honest summary is this: the CFTC has cleared the product, the filings name the venues and some of the stocks, and the market now waits for the first trade. Follow exchange coverage on the Zimbuck News page and in the Zimbuck Market News group, and join the conversation on Zimbuck to say which stock you think lists first.
FAQ
What did the CFTC approve on November 3, 2026? Perpetual futures on individual stocks, called "Equity Perps", to trade on US-regulated exchanges for the first time, under Chairman Michael Selig's statement.
Which exchanges filed? Kalshi and Coinbase filed stock-perp products on September 18, 2026, and Kraken's parent filed through Bitnomial.
Which stocks are covered? Kraken's filing named 10 US stocks including Tesla, Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon; Kalshi's reportedly covers 58 stocks and ETFs. Final lists are not confirmed.
When can I trade them? No exchange has announced a launch date yet. Access will depend on brokers and suitability checks.
How is an equity perp different from a tokenized stock? A perp is a leveraged futures contract that never expires; a tokenized stock is a digital token tracking a share. Different products, different regulation, different risks.
This article is market news and general information only, not financial advice.
