CFTC clears stock perpetual futures for trading on US exchanges

US regulators are opening the door to stock-based perpetual futures, extending a popular crypto trading product into traditional markets amid ongoing legal disputes.

Perpetual futures contracts tied to individual stocks can begin trading on regulated US exchanges for the first time, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), extending a derivatives product popularized in cryptocurrency markets into traditional equities.

CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said in a Tuesday statement that the contracts were deemed approved under CFTC Regulation 40.3 and could be offered on exchanges registered with both the CFTC and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to trade security futures products.

Selig said bringing the products into regulated US markets would allow American traders to access perpetual futures under US regulatory safeguards rather than being “forced to turn to offshore, and often unregulated, venues.”

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