US Regulators Open a Short Window for Perpetual Futures on Stock Indexes
Perpetual futures — the no-expiry contracts crypto traders live on — just got a temporary green light to exist on US stock indexes.
The CFTC's Division of Market Oversight issued a no-action letter letting designated contract markets strip expiration dates from existing perpetual-style futures that track broad-based security indexes.
What the relief actually does
Those contracts were never true perps. They carried long-dated expirations, some stretching up to 25 years, because US regulators had not settled how to classify perpetuals. Deleting the expiry converts them into genuine perpetual futures that run on a funding rate instead of a settlement date.
The letter answers a request from Coinbase Derivatives dated October 1, 2026. But the relief is not open-ended — the positions expire on October 20, 2026. It also covers only broad-based security index products, nothing else.
The strings attached
Before converting, an exchange has to clear eight conditions. It may only amend contracts tied to broad-based security indexes, and it must collect feedback from traders holding open positions.
Those traders get at least five calendar days' notice, plus a chance to close out under the old terms. Risk disclosures are required, and no other material contract term may change — only the expiration date.
That last part matters, because ripping an expiry off a live contract can move prices. Some holders win, others lose, on the same announcement.
Why a crypto reader should care
Perpetual futures grew up offshore. Most perp trading still happens on venues outside the United States. This is a narrow, time-limited crack in that wall — and a template for dragging a structure crypto invented into US-regulated markets.
Kalshi already showed the appetite. It launched a US 500 perpetual on October 6 that tracks a market-cap-weighted basket of large US companies, where Nvidia, Microsoft and Apple carry the most weight.
The contract landed 49 days after Kalshi filed it with the CFTC on August 18. One limit worth flagging: regulators treat equity-index futures and single-stock futures under different frameworks, so this does not automatically clear perps on individual stocks.