Coinbase Files With CFTC to List First Single-Stock Perpetual Futures in the U.S.
Key Takeaways
- •Coinbase filed with the CFTC on September 18, 2026, to list the first single-stock perpetual futures in the United States, covering individual U.S. stocks and ETFs.
- •The proposed contracts would trade from Sunday 8 p.m. ET through Friday 5 p.m. ET, giving traders continuous exposure across overnight, pre-market, regular and after-hours sessions.
- •Unlike conventional futures, the contracts have no expiration date and rely on an hourly funding mechanism, computed from price snapshots every three minutes and capped at 0.10% per hour, to keep contract prices aligned with the underlying stock.
- •Coinbase would calculate its own reference index updated every second, and the contracts would fall under the U.S. security futures regime, including clearability, margin, surveillance and market supervision requirements.
- •The products remain pending CFTC approval, and Coinbase, which already operates a derivatives platform with 146 assets, plans to make the contracts available for trading shortly after approval.
Coinbase has filed with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to list perpetual futures tied to individual U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), a step that would bring one of the most popular trading formats in crypto derivatives into the U.S. equity market for the first time under a regulated framework. Single-stock perpetual futures have largely remained outside the United States until now.
Coinbase Derivatives submitted the proposal on September 18, 2026, and announced the filing publicly the same day:
Single stock perps are coming to America. Coinbase has filed to list the first set of single stock perpetual futures in the US. Building on the progress of our live US perps market, we're working to bring liquid, 24/5 exposure to individual stocks in the US for the first time. pic.twitter.com/NPm14LK3UR
— Coinbase 🛡️ (@coinbase) September 18, 2026
On the CFTC's filing database, Coinbase's Single Stock Perpetual Futures Contract appears as a security futures product with a pending approval designation. The company must complete the regulatory review process before the contracts can be listed, making the outcome of that review the immediate milestone to watch.
24/5 Exposure Across Extended Trading Hours
Coinbase says the move builds on its existing U.S. perpetual futures business. The company operates a live U.S. perpetuals market for crypto assets, and the new filing seeks to extend that infrastructure to equities. Under the proposal, the contracts would trade from Sunday at 8 p.m. ET through Friday at 5 p.m. ET, giving traders continuous exposure to individual equities across overnight, pre-market, regular-session and after-hours periods rather than only during standard exchange hours. In practice, that would allow positions to be opened or closed in response to developments outside regular market hours, rather than waiting for the next session to begin.
How the Proposed Perps Would Work
Perpetual futures differ from conventional futures in that they carry no expiration date. Instead of settling at a fixed maturity, they rely on a periodic funding arrangement designed to keep the contract's value consistent with that of the underlying asset. The format originated in crypto markets and has since become a core instrument of digital asset derivatives trading worldwide.
In Coinbase's proposed design, the funding rate would be computed hourly using several price snapshots taken every three minutes with a maximum rate of 0.10% per hour in either direction. When the perpetual contract's price exceeds the spot price of the underlying stock, long positions pay funding to short positions. When the contract price drops below the reference price, the flow reverses and shorts pay longs. The goal of the mechanism is to provide a continuous economic incentive for the contract price to stay close to the underlying stock's market price. Because funding payments recur over the life of a position, the ongoing cost of holding exposure would vary with the contract's premium or discount to the stock — a carrying-cost dynamic that conventional dated futures do not have.
A Crypto-Native Product Enters Equity Markets
Coinbase would calculate its own reference index for the contracts, drawing on institutional market data feeds that span U.S. pre-market, regular, after-hours and overnight sessions. The index would be updated every second, with procedures in place to eliminate stale or abnormal values.
The proposed contracts would also fall under the U.S. security futures regime, including clearability, surveillance, margin and market supervision processes. According to the filing, Coinbase has systems designed to prevent manipulation and insider trading, along with processes for coordinated surveillance with the markets on which the underlying securities trade.
Coinbase Expands Its Perpetual Futures Push
The filing marks a new development for Coinbase's derivatives order book. The company already operates a derivatives trading platform featuring perpetual contracts linked to crypto assets and other markets. Its derivatives data page currently shows 146 assets available for trading within what the company calls its derivatives ecosystem.
The proposed single-stock contracts would extend that trading model into the U.S. equity market, combining a format well known to the crypto trading community with some of the world's most liquid assets. If approved, they would be the first single-stock perpetual futures listed in the United States, according to the company.
The products remain pending CFTC approval for now. Upon approval, and subject to any additional regulatory requirements, Coinbase says it plans to make the contracts available for trading shortly thereafter.
Source: Crypto Ninjas
