Source context: This article rewrites a PANews report by Frank of MSX, published November 5, 2026, at 19:00 UTC+8. Developments and planned launches below reflect that reporting date.
Single-stock perpetual contracts were permitted to begin trading on U.S. regulated exchanges on November 3, 2026, according to the source’s account of an announcement by Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Mike Selig. The contracts fall under joint CFTC and Securities and Exchange Commission oversight.
The development brings a crypto-market trading structure into the U.S. securities-futures framework. But the key distinction for customers is what they hold: a perpetual contract provides long or short exposure to a reference asset, rather than necessarily delivering ownership of the underlying shares.
The contract, the venue and the underlying shares
A perpetual contract removes the scheduled expiry found in conventional futures. Traders do not have to close or roll a position solely because an expiry date arrives. Instead, periodic funding payments between longs and shorts help encourage the contract price to track a reference price.
That mechanism does not make every stock-linked product equivalent. The source distinguishes two approaches:
- Synthetic stock perpetuals: Products such as Binance’s USDT-settled contracts and Coinbase’s USDC-settled contracts provide exposure to share-price movements without delivery of actual shares.
- Tokenized-stock-linked structures: Platforms including MSX, Kraken through xStocks, and Ondo connect perpetual trading or collateral arrangements with tokenized securities.
These structures should not be conflated. A reference to a stock, or the use of a tokenized security as collateral, does not by itself explain the customer’s ownership rights or the full custody and obligation chain. The source does not provide a comprehensive account of those arrangements for every platform.
For the U.S. regulatory route described by Selig, single-stock perpetuals are securities futures under the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000. They must comply with both the Commodity Exchange Act and federal securities laws. A venue offering them needs CFTC registration as a designated contract market and notice registration with the SEC as a national securities exchange authorized to trade securities futures.
According to the report, Kalshi began offering four stock perpetuals on November 3, referencing Amgen (AMGN), McDonald’s (MCD), Qualcomm (QCOM) and Costco (COST), with maximum leverage of approximately 4.9 times.
The regulatory timeline—and what remained pending
The November announcement followed several separate regulatory developments. Their scope and implementation status matter:
- March 11, 2026: The SEC and CFTC signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen coordination on financial innovation, market oversight and investor protection.
- April 10: The SEC approved Nasdaq’s rule change for trading 23 hours a day, five days a week. The source said implementation was expected on December 6, so the extended schedule was not yet operating at publication.
- May 29: The CFTC approved KalshiEX’s BTCPERP bitcoin perpetual contract, which the report described as the first true bitcoin perpetual admitted to a U.S. regulated exchange.
- September 17: The SEC issued a temporary, conditional innovation-exemption arrangement. According to the source, it allowed qualifying tokenized-securities venues, within a specified regulatory framework, to trade certain U.S. National Market System stocks through permissioned automated market makers and liquidity pools. This was not blanket permission for unrestricted tokenized-stock trading.
- October 28: The CFTC announced a December 15 industry roundtable on around-the-clock derivatives trading. Planned topics included market structure, tokenization, infrastructure, staffing and operational readiness. The announcement was a consultation step, not authorization of a fully operational 24/7 market.
- November 3: Selig announced the single-stock perpetual development under joint SEC–CFTC oversight.
Longer trading hours, conditional tokenized-securities arrangements and regulated perpetuals are related developments, but they are not interchangeable approvals.
Crypto venues had already expanded beyond crypto assets
The source traces a broader product expansion that preceded the U.S. announcement.
MSX began public testing of U.S. stock-token perpetuals on August 11, 2025. Hyperliquid introduced HIP-3 in October 2025, opening perpetual-market creation to third-party developers and extending the range of reference assets beyond bitcoin and ether to stocks, indices, commodities and foreign exchange.
In 2026, further launches followed:
- Binance introduced TSLAUSDT on January 28, followed on February 9 by contracts referencing MSTR, AMZN, CRCL, COIN and PLTR. The report describes USDT margin and settlement with 24/7 trading.
- Ondo Finance announced Ondo Perps on February 3, proposing traditional-asset perpetuals and exploring tokenized securities as collateral. The platform launched in July.
- Kraken introduced xStocks-based perpetuals on February 24 for eligible non-U.S. customers in more than 110 countries and territories, with 24/7 trading and leverage of up to 20 times.
- Coinbase launched stock perpetuals on March 20 for eligible non-U.S. users, with USDC settlement.
- Bitget also added stock and ETF perpetuals, including contracts referencing Nvidia, Apple, Tesla and Microsoft, with USDT settlement and near-continuous trading.
This expansion occurred while overall crypto-exchange turnover was declining. The source cites TokenInsight’s third-quarter 2026 report: tracked exchanges recorded approximately $12 trillion in turnover, down 27.5% quarter on quarter and marking a third consecutive quarterly decline. Spot volume fell 55% to $2 trillion, while derivatives volume fell 17% to $10 trillion.
Derivatives nevertheless increased their share of total turnover to 83%, up 10 percentage points from the previous quarter. Across nine exchanges, stock and commodity perpetuals generated approximately $2.1 trillion in quarterly volume: about $1.61 trillion from stocks, or 77%, and approximately $491 billion from commodities.
The author interprets traditional-asset products as an avenue for exchanges seeking additional demand, while cautioning against attributing the expansion solely to falling crypto volumes. Existing derivatives engines, stablecoin settlement and margin systems also make additional asset classes a practical extension of their infrastructure.
ICE’s proposed route assigns trading and clearing roles
On October 29, according to the report, New York Stock Exchange parent Intercontinental Exchange announced a partnership with Trade[XYZ] to bring Hyperliquid-based perpetual markets to the United States.
Under the announced plan, ICE would operate a new regulated trading market and clearing infrastructure and make a strategic investment in Trade[XYZ]. Trade[XYZ] would provide market-design and product technology. The intended asset coverage included equities, indices, cryptocurrencies, commodities and foreign exchange.
The proposal remained subject to regulatory approval. It contemplated a dedicated U.S. trading and clearing structure, not an already-operating U.S. service merely accessing an existing offshore market.
Weekend trading creates reference prices—not official share prices
Stock perpetuals can continue trading while the underlying equity market is closed. That creates a channel for investors to express views on weekend developments, but it also makes reference-price construction especially important.
The source describes Coinbase’s approach as using external equity feeds, including Pyth and Blue Ocean ATS, during normal trading periods. During weekends and some closures, it switches to an internal index incorporating an exponential moving average of perpetual mark prices and available tokenized-stock quotes. Price-deviation limits and transition mechanisms are intended to reduce disruption when external feeds resume.
Funding payments can discourage persistent premiums or discounts, but they cannot independently establish an accurate stock price. During a closure, the reference index itself may be stale or dependent on alternative markets.
Cross-venue trading can also narrow discrepancies. However, buying a cheaper perpetual on one platform and selling a more expensive one elsewhere is not equivalent to continuously hedging against actual shares. Contract specifications, settlement, funding, margin and liquidity can differ, while the underlying stock market may remain unavailable. Monday’s opening gap is another risk.
Weekend perpetual prices therefore represent venue-specific market expectations—not official Nasdaq or NYSE share prices, and not a guarantee of where those shares will reopen.
Convergence is occurring at different speeds
As of the source’s publication, regulated single-stock perpetuals had begun trading, Nasdaq’s extended-hours launch was still expected in December, the SEC’s tokenized-securities arrangement was conditional, the CFTC’s 24/7 roundtable was pending, and ICE’s proposed market still required approval.
Together, those developments point toward closer connections between crypto trading mechanisms and traditional exchange infrastructure. They do not establish that every part of the trading, custody and clearing chain already operates around the clock. For customers, the relevant questions remain product-specific: what exposure the contract provides, how prices are constructed when the underlying market is closed, and which entities operate the trading and clearing arrangements.