Six firms defend stock perps in court after Kalshi opened trading
Coinbase, Kalshi and Kraken’s parent each have an exchange whose listings are at stake. Their proposed brief challenges a judge’s reading of what makes a contract a security future.
Six firms asked a federal court on November 9 to let them defend U.S. stock perpetual futures that Kalshi had already begun offering. The proposed brief puts a practical question before the court: can a contract count as a security future if it never expires?
CoinbaseCOIN+1.47%, Kalshi and Payward, the parent of Kraken and Bitnomial, have direct stakes in the answer. Their exchanges applied on September 18 to list the contracts. Those applications took effect by operation of law on November 2. DRW, Jump Trading and Paradigm joined the proposed friend-of-the-court brief.
| Date in 2026 | Event |
|---|---|
| September 18 | Coinbase Derivatives, KalshiEX and Bitnomial applied to list single-stock perps. |
| November 2 | The applications were deemed approved by operation of law. |
| November 3 | The court denied an immediate halt. |
| November 5 | Kalshi announced trading on more than 50 companies. |
| November 9 | Six firms submitted their proposed brief supporting the CFTC. |
Why the lack of an expiry matters
A stock perp lets a trader take a long or short position in a share price without owning the shares. Instead of settling on a set expiration date, the position can stay open. Periodic funding payments between longs and shorts help keep the contract price close to the stock.
The six firms argue that federal law calls for future delivery but does not require the parties to fix the date in advance. They say the contracts qualify as security futures under joint oversight by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Judge Valerie Caproni reached a different preliminary view on November 3. Without a sale for future delivery, she wrote, the contracts appeared to be swaps. She found the Capital Markets Alliance Association likely to succeed on its claim that the CFTC lacked authority to approve trading on these exchanges.
What the emergency order left open
Caproni nevertheless denied the alliance’s request for an immediate halt. Its members had described injuries they might suffer but had not shown that irreparable harm was likely. Two days later, Kalshi announced that customers could trade perps on more than 50 companies.
The proposed brief asks the court to deny the broader preliminary injunction. That request reaches a product already offered to traders. The November 3 order set November 10 for the alliance’s reply, subject to revision by the assigned judge.