Kalshi, Coinbase and Payward race for US stock perpetual futures approval

Wall Street’s newest turf war isn’t about who can offer the lowest fees or the flashiest app. It’s about who gets there first with US stock perpetual futures — a crypto-native derivatives product that’s now racing toward traditional equities. Kalshi filed with regulators on Friday to offer perpetual futures tied to individual US stocks, putting itself in direct competition with Coinbase, which submitted a nearly identical proposal the very same day.

Key takeaways

• Kalshi filed a proposed rule change with the SEC and submitted it to the CFTC on Friday to offer perpetual futures on individual US stocks; the CFTC has not yet approved it.
• Coinbase filed a similar proposal on the same day, setting up a head-to-head race for the same regulatory approval.
• Kalshi’s contracts would be treated as security futures and cleared through Kalshi Klear, its CFTC-registered clearinghouse.
• Payward, the parent company of Kraken, filed through Bitnomial Exchange to bring perpetual futures on 10 US equities — including Tesla, Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon — to Kraken users, with plans for 24/5 trading.
• The push comes days after the CLARITY Act failed to clear the US Senate, prompting SEC Chair Paul Atkins to say the agency will “act decisively” with or without new legislation.

Kalshi and Coinbase File for US Stock Perpetual Futures

Kalshi wants to bring a product that’s already popular in crypto trading into the world of stocks. The prediction-market operator filed its proposed rule change with the Securities and Exchange Commission and forwarded it to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for sign-off on Friday. As of now, the CFTC has not approved the proposal, which means the contracts are still stuck in regulatory limbo.

Details of Kalshi’s filing and contract structure

Unlike standard futures, the contracts Kalshi is proposing would carry no fixed expiration date. Instead, they’d rely on periodic funding payments exchanged between long and short position holders to keep prices tethered to the underlying stock — the same mechanic that’s powered crypto perpetual swaps for years. Kalshi said it plans to treat these instruments as security futures products, clearing them through Kalshi Klear, its own CFTC-registered clearinghouse.

This isn’t Kalshi’s first rodeo with perpetual-style products. The company already runs crypto perpetual futures tied to Bitcoin, Ether, Solana and XRP inside the US, after the CFTC approved its Bitcoin perpetual contract back in May. That track record gives Kalshi a working blueprint to point to as it pushes for approval on equities.

Coinbase’s simultaneous proposal

The timing wasn’t a coincidence in spirit, even if it wasn’t coordinated: Coinbase filed its own proposal to offer perpetual futures on individual US stocks on the exact same day as Kalshi. Both companies are chasing the same prize — bringing a derivatives structure that’s thrived in crypto markets onto Wall Street‘s biggest names.

Why does this matter for everyday investors and traders? If approved, it would mark one of the first times a crypto-style perpetual contract trades legally on individual US equities, potentially reshaping how retail traders speculate on stock price moves without ever touching an expiration date.

Expanding Market for US Stock Perpetual Futures

Kalshi and Coinbase aren’t alone in this race — the field is getting crowded fast, and that competitive pressure could push regulators to move quicker than they otherwise might.

Other operators entering the space

Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, has also filed — through its Bitnomial Exchange — to offer the same kind of product, with plans to eventually make it available to Kraken’s US customer base. That’s now three separate entities, spanning a prediction market, a major crypto exchange, and a derivatives exchange, all chasing the same regulatory green light within days of each other.

Payward and Bitnomial Exchange’s filing and planned offerings

Payward’s ambitions are notably broad right out of the gate. The company said it plans to initially list perpetual futures tied to 10 US equities, naming Tesla, Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon among them. Payward is also working toward 24/5 trading — meaning traders could theoretically access these contracts nearly around the clock, five days a week, mirroring the always-on trading culture that crypto markets popularized.

Taken together, these filings signal that Kalshi perpetual futures and Coinbase stock futures aren’t isolated bets — they’re part of a broader industry wager that US regulators are ready to let crypto-style derivatives infrastructure merge with traditional equity markets. Whoever secures approval first stands to set the template — and possibly the trading volume advantage — for everyone else trying to follow.

Regulatory Landscape and Recent Developments

The filings landed just days after Congress hit a wall on crypto market-structure legislation, which helps explain why exchanges are moving through regulatory filings rather than waiting on lawmakers. That’s the backdrop shaping how fast — or how cautiously — the CFTC and SEC might act.

Impact of CLARITY Act failure in US Senate

On Sept. 15, the CLARITY Act stalled in the US Senate after it could not secure the 60 votes required to proceed. That bill had been seen as one path toward clearer rules for digital-asset and crypto-adjacent derivatives markets, and its stall leaves companies like Kalshi, Coinbase and Payward filing under existing frameworks rather than a freshly updated one.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins’ statement on regulatory certainty

A day after that Senate vote, SEC Chair Paul Atkins struck a notably proactive tone. He said that “with or without legislation,” the agency would “act decisively” within its existing statutory authority to provide regulatory certainty for American investors and entrepreneurs. Coming right on the heels of the CLARITY Act setback, that statement reads as a signal that the SEC isn’t planning to sit on its hands while Congress sorts out crypto policy — a detail that matters directly to the pending filings from Kalshi, Coinbase and Payward.

This is where the CFTC derivatives approval process becomes the real bottleneck to watch. None of the three companies can launch their proposed contracts until the CFTC and, in Kalshi’s case, the SEC sign off. With multiple exchanges now filing in parallel, regulators face pressure to clarify how security futures, commodity futures and crypto-style perpetuals should be treated under current law — without the legislative clarity the CLARITY Act might have provided.

FAQ

What are perpetual futures contracts as filed by Kalshi and Coinbase?

They are contracts tied to individual US stocks with no preset expiration date, using periodic funding payments to align prices with underlying stocks.

Have Kalshi’s and Coinbase’s filings for US stock perpetual futures been approved?

No, the CFTC has not yet approved these proposed contracts.

Which companies besides Kalshi and Coinbase are seeking to offer US stock perpetual futures?

Payward, the parent company of Kraken, filed through Bitnomial Exchange to offer these products as well.

What is the recent regulatory context affecting these filings?

The CLARITY Act that could clarify regulation failed in the Senate, but SEC Chair Paul Atkins said the SEC will act decisively with or without legislation to provide regulatory certainty.

Article produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the editorial team.