CFTC deems single-stock perpetual futures approved
Single-stock perpetual futures were deemed approved under CFTC Regulation 40.3 as security futures, Selig says, on the review clock rather than by a new order.
A single-stock perpetual future on a US equity can begin trading on a properly registered US exchange, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Michael S. Selig said on November 3, 2026, and the legal act is a deemed approval under Commission Regulation 40.3 rather than a fresh order of the kind the agency used for Bitcoin (BTC).
Selig's statement, issued with Release Number 9319-26, says the contracts he calls Equity Perps "were deemed approved by the Commission, pursuant to Commission Regulation 40.3, as security futures products" under the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 (CFMA). Footnote 3's only order is the May 29, 2026 approval of KalshiEX's BTC perpetual. Under 17 CFR 40.3(d)(1), a compliant submission "shall be deemed approved by the Commission under section 5c(c) of the Act at the conclusion of the applicable review period" unless the Commission issues a notice of non-approval in time. The initial review runs 45 days from receipt, and the Commission may extend it for novel questions or for any longer period the exchange accepts in writing.
The asset class is what separates this clock from the May BTC order. A BTC perpetual can sit as a futures contract on a digital commodity, the framing the CFTC later used in its motion to dismiss Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.'s challenge. A single-stock perpetual is a security future, so footnote 1 limits the venues to designated contract markets (DCMs) that are also notice-registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as national securities exchanges for security futures.
What the review clock actually does
A DCM, a swap execution facility, or a derivatives clearing organization may request that approval before listing. Paragraph (b) requires approval unless the terms violate the Act or the regulations, and paragraph (d)(2) is the off-ramp if the Commission names a missed provision. Selig's page records the product class, the rule, and the dual-registration condition, and it stops there. "I believe that bringing these types of innovative products into our regulated markets ensures that American investors and traders can access these products within the protections of the CFTC's proven regulatory framework, rather than being forced to turn to offshore, and often unregulated, venues," he wrote, tying the aim to the CFMA and the agencies' March 11, 2026 memorandum, already examined in the March agreement.
Kalshi's file, and the contract customers can see
The statement leaves the submitter's name off the page. On September 18, 2026, KalshiEX LLC filed a voluntary submission under Regulations 40.3(a) and 41.23(b) covering 55 common stocks and three American depositary receipts or fund shares. Each contract is 100 shares, with a minimum tick of $0.005 and a tick value of $0.50. Apple's AAPLPERP minimum unit is 1/10,000 of that unit, or 0.01 shares. Funding is once a day, positions end by offset or delisting, and Rule 14.10 caps the rate at 2.00% beyond a 0.002% deadband. The letter says Kalshi is already notice-registered with the SEC under Exchange Act Section 6(g).
Kalshi's help center now shows 0.02 shares a contract, so 50 contracts match one share, with funding at 4 pm ET, a session that closes, cash dividends from shorts to longs, and clearing at Kalshi Klear LLC. The filing and the customer page therefore measure the single-stock perpetual in different increments. Dated single-stock futures already ran at OneChicago from November 8, 2002 until September 18, 2020, so the new piece is the funding leg, which a Form 1-N notice still leaves to a Regulation 40.3 file. That gap is what Crypto.com's stock notice and Coinbase's earlier filing left open, separate from Coinbase Clearing's registration for fully collateralized contracts.
A lawsuit arrived the same afternoon
The Capital Markets Alliance sued the CFTC and Selig the same day in the Southern District of New York, docket 1:26-cv-09608. The court index lists challenged filings dated September 18, 2026, the date of Kalshi's letter. Cboe Global Markets said the alliance also includes Citadel Securities and the Healthy Markets Association and wants injunctive relief. Craig Donohue, chief executive of Cboe Global Markets, said the agency's actions "threaten to erode the regulatory framework that has protected investors and governed U.S. securities markets for more than nine decades," in the company's statement. Reuters reported that the complaint says the Commission "invited a parallel, synthetic market in US stocks to grow outside the exclusive jurisdiction" of the SEC, and a CFTC spokesperson answered, "Our markets should be governed by law, not litigation campaigns intended to block innovation," Reuters reported.
If the court leaves the deemed approval standing, the onshore single-stock perpetual still funds once a day on a dual-registered venue, with a cash-session close and a dividend adjustment a round-the-clock crypto perpetual leaves out.
This article is informational analysis only and is not financial, investment, or trading advice.
Reporting by Karthik Subramanian. Filed 4 November 2026, 21:01 GMT.
Digital Assets Correspondent
Karthik Subramanian is a founder, writer, and technology consultant with nine years in the crypto ecosystem.
