US stock perpetuals win clearance, but stock-market halts can still block exits

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced on November 3 that US stock perpetual futures could begin trading on eligible regulated exchanges. These contracts track share prices without a fixed expiration date, but holders remain subject to stock-market halt rules that can interrupt an exit strategy during market disruptions.

CFTC Chairman Michael Selig stated that the contracts had been deemed approved under Regulation 40.3. Eligible venues must be designated contract markets and also notice-registered with the SEC as securities exchanges, bringing these products into the agencies' joint security-futures framework.

Trading limitations

Kalshi has begun offering single-stock perpetuals with no expiration date, but explicitly warns they do not trade 24/7. Markets follow regular closure schedules, and customers cannot open or close positions while a market is closed. Access requires a perpetuals application and educational tutorial, with leverage depending on the stock and position size.

Coinbase status

As of November 4, Coinbase's individual CFTC product record still displayed "Approval Pending," while the SEC's rulemaking index marked its separate customer-margin proposal as withdrawn. These entries don't override the November 3 announcement, but neither establish a Coinbase customer launch or final terms.

Coinbase's September filing describes cash-settled futures on stocks and ETF shares without ownership of the underlying shares. Its product submission uses AAPL as a representative specification and makes listing contingent on approvals.

Market halt concerns

The securities industry trade group SIFMA sent a November 2 letter seeking further review of proposals from Bitnomial, Coinbase, Kalshi and Nadex, raising concerns about manipulation, thin-liquidity trading and classification issues.

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 applicable exemptions. These controls protect investors by allowing information to circulate and markets to regain order, but prevent affected holders from using closing trades to reduce exposure.