SEC Official: Four Exchanges May List Perpetual Futures

At least four exchanges are likely to begin offering perpetual futures tied to securities before the end of the fourth quarter, the SEC’s top market-structure official said, according to Financemagnates. Richard Selway told the Security Traders Association’s annual market structure conference on 14 October that he expects a minimum of four venues to start trading the contracts during the current quarter.

The remarks signal that a product long associated with offshore crypto venues is moving toward regulated US equity derivatives. A perpetual future has no expiry date, unlike the conventional listed futures that US exchanges have offered on individual companies.

Also read: CFTC Relief Turns Coinbase's 25-Year Index Futures Perpetual

Key facts

• Selway, the SEC’s top market-structure official, said at least four exchanges are expected to begin trading perpetual futures on securities this quarter.
• Five CFTC-regulated designated contract markets — Coinbase, Kalshi, Bitnomial, NADEX and ICE Futures — filed Form 1-N registration notices with the SEC in September.
• Under the applicable framework, the registration of an eligible exchange becomes effective when the required notice is submitted, in contrast to a conventional application the SEC would approve before trading starts.
• A Form 1-N registration is limited in scope to trading security futures products and does not grant general authority to run a cash-equities exchange.
• Selway cited CME’s 27 July introduction of cash-settled single-stock futures covering more than 50 US stocks, which, unlike perpetual contracts, carry expiry dates.

Why the registration path matters

The September filings cover only the registration stage. Selway’s speech did not name which four venues he expects to trade during the fourth quarter, nor did it set out launch dates, eligible securities, leverage caps, funding mechanisms or settlement terms for any particular contract.

Selway framed the agency’s task narrowly. He said the SEC’s job is to check that products meet regulatory standards and to encourage competition that benefits investors, adding that judging whether a new contract will succeed commercially falls outside that remit. According to Financemagnates, he put it plainly: the Commission does not assess whether such projects will work in the market, but works to ensure compliance with its standards and to foster healthy competition to best protect and benefit investors.

Also read: CFTC Opens Public Comment on Retail Crypto Rules CTX and CAM

The regulatory mechanics explain why launches could arrive quickly. Because the venues are already CFTC-registered designated contract markets, their Form 1-N notices take effect on filing rather than waiting on a Commission decision. The SEC’s rules expressly separate those notices from applications the agency would approve ahead of trading.

Why it matters

Perpetual futures are a core product on crypto exchanges, where funding-rate payments stand in for expiry to keep contracts tracking an underlying price. Bringing that structure to US equity derivatives would extend a fast-growing category of listed products — single-stock futures — into a contract type that US regulators have not previously overseen. For traders, it would mean an equity-linked instrument that can be held open without rolling positions; for the SEC and CFTC, it creates a shared oversight question over products that straddle securities and futures law.

What to watch

Watch which of the five venues actually begin trading before the quarter ends, and the terms they attach — leverage limits, funding rates and settlement. Selway’s remarks left all of those unspecified, so the first launch announcements will carry the practical detail.

Written by

Emily Torres

Emily Torres covers cryptocurrency and decentralized finance for StockPil, tracking blockchain markets and regulatory developments.

Source: Finance Magnates