US regulators cleared the way for stock perpetual futures to trade on eligible exchanges. But the contracts still follow stock-market halt rules, so a halt can stop holders from closing a position.
The CFTC said on Nov. 3 that US stock perpetual futures could begin trading on eligible regulated exchanges. These perpetual futures track share prices without a fixed expiration date, yet holders remain subject to halt rules that can interrupt an exit.
Clearance applies to eligible venues
Chairman Michael Selig said the contracts had been deemed approved under Regulation 40.3. Eligible venues are designated contract markets that are also notice-registered with the SEC as securities exchanges, which brings the products into the agencies' joint security-futures framework.
Kalshi says it now offers single-stock perpetuals with no expiration date. However, it warns that they do not trade 24/7, and customers cannot open or close positions while a market is closed. Access requires a perpetuals application and an educational tutorial, and leverage depends on the stock and position size.
Meanwhile, SIFMA's Nov. 2 letter sought further review of proposals from Bitnomial, Coinbase, Kalshi and Nadex, raising concerns about manipulation, thin-liquidity trading and classification.
A halt on the stock halts the future
Under the security-futures halt requirement, a future on a single security must stop trading whenever that security is under a regulatory halt, subject to an applicable exemption. As a result, an affected holder cannot use a closing trade in the halted contract to reduce exposure.
Trading the same stock or its options cannot be assumed to fix that problem, because those markets generally honor the underlying regulatory halt too. A broader-market instrument might remain available during a company-specific interruption, but it leaves company-specific risk.
A venue-only derivatives outage is different. If the cash market or another relevant instrument stays open and accessible, a separate trade may offset some exposure, though it leaves the original perpetual open.
Coinbase filings describe controls, not a launch
Coinbase's filed Rule 1207 would subject its contracts to US equity market-wide circuit breakers and coordinated halts. The CFTC product record for Coinbase still showed approval as pending when checked Nov. 4, and neither that record nor the SEC index establishes a Coinbase customer launch or final terms.
Neither a fallback price nor a funding pause closes a position. Kalshi warns that closures can leave holders facing a different reopening price. It adds that adverse moves may trigger liquidation if maintenance margin is breached.
Source: CryptoSlate
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