CFTC Chair Says Equity Perpetual Futures Can Begin Trading on Dual-Registered Venues
By Crypto Wire
November 3, 2026
CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig said on November 3, 2026 that perpetual futures on individual equity securities — Equity Perps — can begin trading for the first time on CFTC-registered exchanges that are also notice-registered with the SEC as national securities exchanges for security futures. The Commission’s press release and Selig’s companion statement frame the products as security futures under the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, deemed approved under Commission Regulation 40.3, and therefore bound by both the Commodity Exchange Act and U.S. federal securities law. This is a Plain English Policy desk chapter about what dual registration unlocks for U.S. traders — not a reprint of Coinbase’s earlier filing path or survey chatter about Robinhood-user demand for single-stock perps.
In plain terms, Equity Perps are futures-style contracts tied to a single company’s stock with no fixed expiration, so traders can hold exposure without rolling a dated contract. Reuters’ same-day report notes that prediction-market and event-contract venues such as Kalshi and Polymarket have been eyeing perpetual futures as a separate growth lane beside sports and election markets. Selig’s statement argues that bringing these products onto regulated U.S. venues keeps American investors inside the CFTC’s framework instead of pushing leverage-seeking flow toward offshore, often unregulated books. Attribute product-structure and dual-registration facts to the CFTC release; treat Reuters’ platform-growth color as secondary context, not a venue go-live confirmation.
The dual-hat gate matters more than the slogan. A designated contract market that wants to list Equity Perps must already sit under the CFTC and file the SEC notice registration required to trade security futures products. Only then do the contracts clear the joint CFTC–SEC security-futures regime that Selig and SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins have described as ending a regulatory “no man’s land.” The CFTC materials do not name a first ticker, a first venue launch clock, or a retail onboarding date in the November 3 announcement — they announce that trading can begin on qualifying dual-registered exchanges once those venues list compliant contracts.
Crypto desks should read the equity path beside the still-contested digital-asset perps fight. Reuters notes that CME Group sued the CFTC in June over the agency’s decision to let Kalshi and Coinbase list perpetual futures in digital assets, arguing the CFTC exceeded its authority — a charge the agency rejected. That litigation is backdrop, not today’s primary fact. Today’s primary fact is narrower: single-name equity perpetual futures are cleared, as a product class, to trade on dual-registered U.S. venues under Regulation 40.3 approval language. Exchange rulebooks still have to list specific contracts, and broker participants still need the dual FCM / broker-dealer registrations the security-futures framework requires before customer orders can clear.
For NFT and on-chain collectors, the policy bite is indirect but real. Tokenized-equity rails, prediction-market wallets, and crypto-native perp UX have been converging on the same trader base that already bids NFT floors with leverage mentality. A regulated U.S. Equity Perps lane does not mint a vaulted card or change OpenSea fees — it changes where equity risk can sit legally next to crypto books. Until a named DCM posts a live Equity Perps contract calendar with listed underlyings, treat “can begin trading” as a green light for venue product filings, not as proof that retail apps already show single-name equity perp buttons.
What changes for bids: Dual-registered CFTC/SEC venues may now list Equity Perps as security futures under Regulation 40.3, pulling a crypto-native contract shape into U.S. equity oversight. Watch the first DCM contract-specification notices and dual-registered broker onboarding — those filings, not today’s press language, are what will actually move equity-risk liquidity that sits beside NFT and crypto books.
Bottom line: On November 3, Chairman Selig said U.S. Equity Perps can begin trading on dual CFTC/SEC-registered venues under Regulation 40.3 — a product-class green light that still needs named exchange listings before retail books light up.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute financial, investment, legal, or trading advice. The NFT market is highly volatile, and past performance is not indicative of future results. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals before making any decisions related to digital assets. The cover image for this article may have been created using artificial intelligence (AI).
