Coinbase, the largest U.S.-based crypto exchange, has applied for permission to list equity perpetuals in the United States, in a move that could bring round-the-clock trading in the products under a regulated framework.
The company submitted a notice registration form to the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this week, seeking approval to begin listing the contracts, Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad said in a post on X on Thursday.
“Equity perps have proven demand internationally, and we’re excited at the prospect of a regulated pathway for U.S. investors,” he said.
Any SEC approval would not be the final step. Coinbase would also need sign-off from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission before it could launch the products in the US, Shirzad added.
Perpetuals, commonly known as perps, are futures contracts without an expiry date. They allow traders to speculate on the movement of an asset’s price without owning the underlying asset directly.
Much of the existing market operates through offshore exchanges that are not regulated in the United States. Coinbase has been expanding its presence in the sector and launched perpetual futures in March for customers outside the US.
Those contracts cover a selected group of stocks, including Apple Inc., Microsoft, NVIDIA and Amazon.
The latest application comes as US regulators consider how perpetual contracts could be brought into the domestic market. In May, the CFTC allowed bitcoin perpetual futures contracts to be listed in the US after its staff gave approval to KalshiEX and Coinbase to offer the products.
The following month, the CFTC issued a request for comment on crude oil perpetual contracts and 24/7 trading, signalling wider consideration of markets that operate continuously rather than during traditional exchange hours.
Hyperliquid seeks US foothold
Hyperliquid has also attracted growing attention from cryptocurrency derivatives traders. The platform was highlighted last month at the White House, where President Donald Trump said CFTC Chair Michael Selig was working to bring Hyperliquid to the United States in a “fully compliant and legal fashion”.
Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that Hyperliquid Labs was seeking to establish an onshore US operation through a deal with Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken.
The developments place Coinbase, Hyperliquid and other crypto platforms at the centre of efforts to extend perpetual trading into the US while meeting regulatory requirements.
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