CFTC clears equity perps on U.S. exchanges

The CFTC has cleared the way for perpetual futures tied to individual stocks — "equity perps" — to trade on registered U.S. exchanges for the first time, bringing the popular crypto trading model to Wall Street under joint CFTC and SEC oversight. The contracts were deemed approved under existing security futures rules, with the agency confirming the move via its announcement that equity perps can now trade on regulated U.S. venues.

• Chair Michael Selig said the move gives U.S. traders a regulated alternative to "offshore, and often unregulated, venues," though his statement did not name which exchanges would offer equity perps or which stocks would be covered.
• The clearance extends Washington's push to bring perps onshore after the CFTC approved the first regulated bitcoin perp earlier this year; onchain perps on Hyperliquid have logged over $630 billion in volume in the past month.
• ICE, parent of the NYSE, recently invested in tradeXYZ, one of the largest market builders on Hyperliquid, as Wall Street eyes the product.