US Regulators Face Pressure from Kalshi, Coinbase, and Kraken on Perpetual Futures for Stocks

Kalshi has filed a proposal with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch perpetual futures contracts linked to individual U.S. stocks. The company's plan, which was submitted as a rule change and sent to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for review, would extend crypto-style derivatives structures into traditional equity markets.

The proposed perpetual futures contracts would have no fixed expiration date and use periodic funding payments between long and short positions to keep pricing aligned with the underlying stocks. Kalshi said the products would be treated as security futures and cleared through its CFTC-registered clearinghouse, Kalshi Klear.

Kalshi is not alone in this effort; Coinbase has also filed a parallel proposal to offer single-stock perpetual futures. Additionally, Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, has submitted a filing through Bitnomial Exchange to list stock-linked perpetual futures.