Kalshi and Coinbase File for US Stock Perpetual Futures

Kalshi filed a proposal with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to offer perpetual futures tied to individual US stocks. The filing was submitted on Friday. The CFTC has not yet approved the request. This move aligns Kalshi with Coinbase, which filed a similar proposal on the same day.

The proposed contracts lack a preset expiration date. They rely on periodic funding payments between long and short positions to maintain price alignment with the underlying equities. Kalshi stated that these instruments will be treated as security futures products. The contracts will be cleared through Kalshi Klear, the company's CFTC-registered clearinghouse.

Competitors expand derivatives offerings

Payward, the parent company of Kraken, also submitted a filing for single-stock perpetual futures. The exchange plans to offer these products through its Bitnomial Exchange. Initial listings will include ten major US equities such as Tesla, Nvidia, and Apple. The company is working toward enabling 24/5 trading hours for these contracts.

Kalshi already offers perpetual futures for cryptocurrencies in the US market. The list includes Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, and XRP. CFTC approval for the Bitcoin perpetual contract was granted in May. This existing infrastructure supports the new equity-based proposal.

Regulatory context follows legislative stall

The filings occurred days after the CLARITY Act failed to advance in the Senate. The bill required 60 votes to proceed but fell short on September 15. The failure left a regulatory gap for digital asset derivatives.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins responded to the legislative defeat one day later. He stated that the agency would act decisively within its existing statutory authority. Atkins emphasized the need to provide regulatory certainty for American investors and entrepreneurs regardless of legislative outcomes.

Market shift toward traditional equities

These filings signal a broader push to bring crypto-style derivatives to traditional equity markets. Companies are seeking to replicate the mechanics of crypto perpetuals for US stocks. The strategy aims to capture demand from traders familiar with digital asset products. As reported by Cointelegraph, this marks a significant expansion of the derivatives landscape in the US.