Coinbase filed notice registrations with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week seeking clearance to list perpetual futures on individual stocks for US customers, Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad said in a post on X on Thursday. The filing is the first step in a two-agency process that includes also getting CFTC approval.

“Equity perps have proven demand internationally,” Shirzad said. Coinbase launched single-stock perpetuals for non-US customers in March, covering names including Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia and Amazon. Coinbase has not said which stocks it would list domestically, what leverage it would allow, or when trading might begin.

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Perpetual futures dominate offshore crypto trading, and extending them to single names would let US traders take leveraged long or short positions on Apple or Nvidia around the clock without owning shares or rolling contracts forward. That would compete with listed options and with the offshore venues where the volume currently sits.

Kalshi has reportedly filed with the CFTC to list equity index perpetuals, pushing the prediction market operator into closer competition with incumbent exchanges. The CFTC opened the door in May when staff cleared Kalshi’s BTCPERP contract and issued a no-action letter allowing Coinbase Financial Markets to route US clients into perpetuals listed on Coinbase’s Bermuda venue as foreign futures. Political pressure is pushing the same direction: President Donald Trump said at the White House in August that CFTC Chair Michael Selig was working to bring the offshore perpetuals platform Hyperliquid onshore in a compliant and legal way.

The classification question underneath all of this is still in court. CME Group sued the CFTC in June, arguing that perpetual futures involve two parties exchanging ongoing payments and therefore meet the Dodd-Frank definition of a swap rather than a future. The CFTC asked a judge to dismiss the suit on Wednesday, telling the court that CME cannot claim competitive injury because nothing prevents it from listing perpetuals itself. Hyperliquid Labs, meanwhile, is in talks to enter the US through a deal with Payward, Kraken’s parent.

AI-assisted content: This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and was reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by a member of the Unchained editorial team before publication.

Coinbase Files With the SEC to List 24/7 Perpetual Futures on Individual US Stocks

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