Coinbase is asking U.S. regulators for permission to offer one of crypto’s most successful product formats on traditional stocks.
On September 3, 2026, Coinbase disclosed that it had filed registration documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission seeking approval to offer equity perpetuals. Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad said the product would also require approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The filing matters because equity perpetuals sit directly at the intersection of three markets that have historically been separated in the United States:
- securities;
- derivatives;
- crypto-native trading infrastructure.
If regulators approve the structure, Coinbase could offer 24/7 perpetual exposure to public equities without requiring users to own the underlying shares.
That would be a meaningful change in U.S. market design.
What is an equity perpetual?
A perpetual contract is a derivative that tracks the price of an underlying asset but has no fixed expiration date.
Traditional futures expire on specific dates. Traders who want to maintain exposure must roll from one contract into another.
Perpetuals remove that operational step.
Instead, a funding or financing mechanism is usually used to keep the contract price close to the underlying reference market.
Crypto exchanges made this format mainstream.
Bitcoin, Ether and other crypto perpetuals became popular because traders could maintain leveraged exposure continuously without managing expiry calendars.
Coinbase now wants to apply that format to equities.
Why 24/7 stock exposure matters
Traditional U.S. equities still revolve around defined exchange sessions, even though pre-market, after-hours and overnight trading have expanded.
Crypto changed user expectations.
Many traders now expect markets to be available whenever news happens.
A company can release earnings after the close.
A geopolitical event can happen during Asian hours.
A product launch or regulatory decision can occur before the U.S. market opens.
A 24/7 equity perpetual gives traders a way to respond continuously.
That does not mean the underlying stock itself trades continuously.
It means the derivative can continue changing price while referencing the expected value of the underlying equity.
That creates both opportunity and risk.
Why this is bigger than another Coinbase product
Coinbase began as a crypto spot exchange.
Its product stack has expanded into:
- derivatives;
- payments;
- custody;
- lending;
- stablecoins;
- institutional prime services;
- tokenization initiatives.
Equity perpetuals push the company even closer to becoming a multi-asset financial platform.
The competitive set therefore changes.
Coinbase is no longer competing only with Binance, Kraken and other crypto exchanges.
It increasingly competes with:
- Robinhood;
- Interactive Brokers;
- futures exchanges;
- multi-asset brokerages;
- new 24/7 trading venues.
This is part of a broader industry convergence.
Crypto exchanges are moving into equities.
Brokerages are moving into crypto.
Traditional exchanges are exploring tokenization and extended-hours trading.
The boundaries are disappearing.
Why regulators need both SEC and CFTC involvement
Equity perpetuals are legally complicated because the underlying reference asset is a security while the product itself is a derivative.
That is why Coinbase’s pathway is not simply a standard securities listing.
The SEC is relevant because the contracts reference public equities.
The CFTC is relevant because perpetuals are derivatives.
This creates a practical test for inter-agency coordination.
For years, crypto firms complained that U.S. regulation was fragmented across multiple agencies.
Equity perps demonstrate why coordination matters even when the product is no longer purely “crypto.”
The product itself combines securities-market exposure with a derivatives-market wrapper originally popularized by crypto exchanges.
Why it matters
The most important implication is market structure.
If equity perps become legal for U.S. users, they could introduce:
- continuous stock exposure;
- crypto-style leverage;
- simplified long-term derivative positioning;
- potentially unified collateral across asset classes;
- new competition for traditional options and futures.
They could also make the distinction between “owning a stock” and “trading stock exposure” more important.
A user trading a perpetual does not necessarily receive:
- dividends;
- voting rights;
- shareholder protections;
- direct legal ownership.
That means disclosure will matter.
A perpetual can track a stock closely while still being a fundamentally different financial instrument.
International demand is already proven
Coinbase’s policy team said equity perpetuals have already demonstrated demand internationally.
That claim fits a broader pattern.
Crypto exchanges outside the United States have generated significant volume from perpetual contracts tied to stocks, commodities, foreign exchange and indexes.
The appeal is straightforward:
A trader who already holds stablecoins can access multiple asset classes without moving money through traditional banking and brokerage systems.
U.S. approval would bring part of that model into domestic regulated markets.
Risks and counterarguments
The product is not approved yet.
Regulators may impose strict leverage, collateral or customer-eligibility requirements.
There is also an important price-discovery problem.
A 24/7 perpetual can trade while the underlying equity market is closed.
During those periods, the derivative may be pricing expectations rather than transactions in the actual stock.
That can create basis risk.
When the equity market reopens, prices may converge sharply.
Retail investors may also misunderstand the difference between a perpetual and owning shares.
A perpetual has no voting rights and may not provide direct dividend entitlement.
Funding costs can accumulate over time.
A user who holds a position for months could face economics very different from simply owning the stock.
What to watch next
The key signals are:
- SEC response;
- CFTC approval process;
- leverage limits;
- permitted collateral;
- eligible users;
- trading hours;
- funding-rate design;
- whether dividends are reflected synthetically;
- which stocks or indexes launch first;
- whether portfolio margin eventually combines crypto and equity exposure.
The deeper story is not that Coinbase wants to add another derivative.
It is that U.S. financial markets are beginning to consider product formats developed and battle-tested in crypto.
If equity perpetuals are approved, the next generation of brokerages may look less like traditional stock apps and more like always-on multi-asset trading systems.
FAQ
What did Coinbase file for?
Coinbase filed registration documents with the SEC seeking approval to offer equity perpetuals.
Does Coinbase already have approval?
No. The company still needs regulatory approvals, including CFTC approval.
Do equity perpetuals represent stock ownership?
No. They provide derivative exposure to the price of an equity rather than direct ownership of the underlying shares.
Why are perpetuals popular in crypto?
They have no fixed expiration date and allow traders to maintain leveraged exposure without rolling contracts.
Could equity perpetuals trade 24/7?
That is one of the core attractions of the proposed model.