Crypto Exchanges Kalshi and Coinbase Lead the Charge into US Stock Perpetual Futures

Kalshi and Coinbase are racing to be the first company to offer US stock perpetual futures, a derivatives product that's popular in crypto markets but new to traditional equities.

The prediction-market operator Kalshi filed its proposed rule change with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday, while Coinbase submitted a nearly identical proposal on the same day. The CFTC has not yet approved either company's contracts.

Kalshi plans to treat its perpetual futures as security futures products, clearing them through Kalshi Klear, its own CFTC-registered clearinghouse. This isn't Kalshi's first rodeo with perpetual-style products, the company already runs crypto perpetual futures tied to Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, and XRP inside the US.

The market is getting crowded fast, with Payward, the parent company of Kraken, filing through Bitnomial Exchange to offer perpetual futures on 10 US equities. The SEC Chair Paul Atkins said that 'with or without legislation,' the agency will 'act decisively' within its existing statutory authority to provide regulatory certainty for American investors and entrepreneurs.