Key Highlights
- Coinbase has filed to offer perpetual futures tied to individual U.S. stocks.
- The proposed contracts could cover 50 to 60 companies, including Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, and Nvidia.
- The products could launch later this year if regulatory approval is granted.
Crypto exchange Coinbase has filed with U.S. regulators to offer perpetual futures tied to individual U.S. stocks, expanding its U.S. derivatives lineup beyond crypto assets and equity indexes.
According to a Wall Street Journal report published Friday, the exchange is considering contracts linked to around 50 to 60 major U.S. companies, including Apple, Microsoft, Tesla and Nvidia. Coinbase could launch the products later this year if it gets the required approvals.
The proposed contracts would give traders exposure to stock-price movements through derivatives rather than direct ownership of the underlying shares.
Coinbase seeks approval for single-stock perpetuals
Perpetual futures are derivatives without a fixed expiration date. Funding payments are generally used to keep the contract price aligned with the underlying asset.
Unlike traditional shares, perpetual futures do not give holders ownership rights, voting rights, or entitlement to dividends from the underlying company. They can also be traded with leverage, which can increase potential losses and lead to liquidations when margin requirements are not met.
Coinbase already offers perpetual futures linked to cryptocurrencies and certain equity indexes in the U.S. The latest filing would extend the product to individual stocks.
Crypto.com and Kalshi are seeking similar products
Coinbase is not the only platform pursuing stock-linked derivatives in the U.S.
Crypto.com’s North American Derivatives Exchange (Nadex) registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to offer security futures products, with the registration becoming effective on September 14. Chief Executive Kris Marszalek has also said the company is working with the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on single-stock perpetual futures.
Prediction-market operator Kalshi has separately sought approval for perpetual futures tied to individual stocks.
The companies are pursuing these products through different regulatory structures, so their filings do not necessarily involve the same contracts or approval process.
Single-stock perpetuals already trade offshore
Similar derivatives are already available on some offshore crypto platforms.
Hyperliquid, for example, offers contracts linked to companies including Tesla and Nvidia. These products track stock prices but do not represent ownership of the underlying shares.
Coinbase’s filing would bring a similar type of derivative into the U.S. market if regulators approve the proposal.
SEC creates separate framework for tokenized stocks
Coinbase’s filing comes shortly after the SEC introduced a separate framework for tokenized U.S. stocks.
On September 17, the agency announced its temporary Innovation Exemption, allowing qualifying Tokenized Securities Venues (TSVs) to facilitate trading in certain tokenized National Market System stocks under specified conditions. The exemption is scheduled to expire five years after publication.
Tokenized stocks and perpetual futures have different structures.
Under the SEC framework, tokenized stocks must represent the underlying securities and provide holders with the same rights and privileges as the corresponding traditional shares, including voting and dividend rights.
Perpetual futures, by contrast, are derivatives whose value tracks an underlying asset without transferring ownership of that asset to the contract holder.
Coinbase expands work with banks
The filing follows another Coinbase announcement earlier this week.
On September 16, Coinbase announced a partnership with Stablecore to help community and regional banks and credit unions provide digital-asset services through their existing banking systems.
Stablecore says its technology has integrations across more than 3,000 U.S. banks and credit unions. That figure refers to Stablecore’s existing integration footprint and does not mean Coinbase has agreements with all of those institutions.
The banking partnership is separate from Coinbase’s proposed single-stock perpetual futures.
Regulatory review still pending
Coinbase’s proposed contracts are not yet available to U.S. traders.
The company still requires the necessary regulatory approvals, and the final list of eligible stocks and launch timeline could change during the review process.
If approved, the products would add another form of stock-linked derivative to the U.S. market as Crypto.com and Kalshi pursue similar offerings and the SEC develops a separate framework for tokenized securities.
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