Ondo Finance is pressing US regulators to bring perpetual futures tied to individual stocks onshore, arguing that the products can already operate within the country's existing security futures framework without the need for new rules.

Perpetual futures, which originated in crypto markets, are derivative contracts with no expiration date that track an underlying asset through periodic funding payments between long and short positions. They have become one of the most heavily traded crypto derivatives products, but versions tied to individual US-listed stocks have largely been offered only on offshore venues that exclude US users, leaving that trading activity outside US regulatory oversight.

In three Aug. 24 comment letters submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Ondo argued that current rules can accommodate perpetual stock futures while also accounting for modern margining practices and onchain market data. The letters were part of a public consultation process (SEC filing). Security futures products, such as single-stock futures, have historically sat in a jurisdictional overlap: the statutes governing them require joint SEC and CFTC approval, which is one reason the US single-stock futures market has remained small.

Ondo disclosed that its Panama-based affiliate already offers stablecoin-settled perpetual futures on individual US-listed stocks outside the United States. The platform recorded $8 billion in cumulative trading volume as of Aug. 14, roughly six weeks after launch.

The company argued that scheduled funding payments can keep perpetual contracts aligned with the price of their underlying stocks, performing a function similar to expiration in traditional futures. "Nothing in the statutory definition of a security futures product requires a fixed expiration date," Ondo said in its product-classification letter.

Ondo also noted that many of the stocks underlying offshore perpetuals are principally traded on US exchanges. "Bringing that activity back to the U.S. should not be an open question; it's something both agencies should actively pursue," the company said.

Ondo is among the largest managers of tokenized real-world assets, ranking fourth with about $2.6 billion in distributed value as of Wednesday, according to RWA.xyz data.

US regulators look to modernize market rules

Ondo's proposal arrives as US regulators reconsider how existing market rules apply to onchain products, including perpetual futures and tokenized securities.

President Donald Trump said in August that CFTC Chair Michael Selig was working to bring Hyperliquid into the United States in a "fully compliant and legal fashion." Hyperliquid is best known for its onchain perpetual futures market, though neither the CFTC nor Hyperliquid has publicly detailed how US access would work.

HYPE, the native token of Hyperliquid, jumped more than 20% following Trump's comments and has gained nearly 49% over the past month to trade around $81 on Wednesday, according to CoinGecko data.

The SEC, which oversees securities markets, and the CFTC, which regulates US derivatives markets, have also stepped up coordination this year, signing a memorandum of understanding in March to harmonize oversight in areas where their jurisdictions overlap.

On Tuesday, the SEC proposed overhauling its decades-old transfer agent framework, citing growing demand for blockchain-native recordkeeping and tokenized securities in US markets as the agency reexamines rules built for older market infrastructure.