CFTC Opens U.S. Market to Perpetual Futures on Stocks
Coinbase Derivatives and Kalshi will be able to offer contracts on Apple, Nvidia, and other U.S. stocks. The move brings a popular offshore leverage product under CFTC oversight.
Key Takeaways
- The CFTC has approved perpetual futures on individual U.S. stocks for trading on regulated exchanges.
- Coinbase Derivatives and Kalshi have filed contracts on Apple, Tesla, Nvidia, Microsoft, and index funds, among others.
- The contracts offer leverage, but regulators warn about fast liquidations during sharp price drops.
The U.S. regulator CFTC has approved perpetual futures on individual U.S. stocks for trading on regulated exchanges. That brings a product to the U.S. that investors previously mostly found on offshore platforms, but that can now be offered under U.S. oversight.
How the Contracts Work
With regular futures, a contract expires on a fixed date. Perpetual futures keep running as long as the trader’s margin is sufficient. A recurring funding payment keeps the contract price close to the underlying stock price.
In the design Coinbase Derivatives submitted, buyers pay sellers when the contract trades above the stock, up to 0.10% per hour. Kalshi submitted a list in September with 58 contracts on 55 stocks, including Apple, Tesla, Nvidia, and Microsoft. Alibaba’s U.S. shares and two funds that track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 are also included in the application.
More Leverage, More Risk
The new contracts are drawing attention mainly because of the leverage. Kalshi lets traders hold a stock position with margin equal to 15.5% of the value. Better Markets warns that positions like these can be automatically liquidated during sharp price drops.
The group also points out that offshore single-stock perpetuals offer up to 20x leverage, while SEC-approved single-stock ETFs are usually capped at 2x. For U.S. versions, leverage of up to 6x is being discussed. According to Better Markets’ math, a 20% drop could already be enough to wipe out a 5x position.
Why This Matters
For European crypto and derivatives followers, this is especially interesting because the U.S. is once again bringing a product from the offshore side into a regulated market. The CFTC previously approved a bitcoin perpetual contract on Kalshi, which shows that perpetuals are no longer associated only with crypto. How much trading actually shifts here will depend on the first volumes in these new contracts.
The broader debate over single-stock perpetuals in the U.S. also plays a role here: Kalshi already had plans for similar contracts on Tesla, Apple, and Nvidia, among others. That makes it clear the new approval is not happening in isolation, but fits into a broader shift toward regulated leverage products.