CFTC Clears Stock Perpetual Futures for US Trading

CFTC Chairman Michael Selig announced Tuesday, November 3, 2026, that equity perpetual futures have been approved under existing security futures rules. Selig said the decision would help firms innovate while remaining "within the protections of the CFTC's proven regulatory framework." Contracts were deemed approved under Regulation 40.3 as security futures. Eligible venues must be CFTC-registered designated contract markets and register with the SEC as national securities exchanges for security futures. They have no set expiration and use recurring payments to align prices with underlying stocks. The move follows earlier CFTC approval of the first bitcoin perpetual futures on a regulated U.S. exchange, extending that model to individual stocks. Perpetual futures recorded more than $630 billion in trading volume over the past month, per DeFiLlama data. Approval rests on the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000; the CFTC and SEC recently signed a coordination memorandum of understanding. No exchanges, contracts, or launch dates were announced. The record contains no competing claims on the approval facts. Sources note legal disputes over the CFTC's authority to approve such contracts without naming parties.