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OG.com filed with the CFTC on Thursday. The ask: approval to list cash-settled single-stock perpetual futures — contracts tied to individual US equities that never expire and trade around the clock.
The filing landed at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission with a proposed ruleset for what the industry calls “perps.” These contracts run 24 hours a day, five days a week, with no expiration date forcing traders to roll into new positions. OG.com, which spun off from Crypto.com and now operates as an independent prediction markets and derivatives platform, carries a $5 billion valuation. Its CEO, Kris Marszalek, has been pretty clear about where he wants to take the company — past prediction markets and into futures and perpetual contracts. Robinhood holds an equity stake in OG.com after acquiring it post-spinoff, and that relationship is part of a multi-year deal built around OG.com’s CFTC-regulated derivatives exchange and clearinghouse.
Not a solo move.
Coinbase, Kraken, and Kalshi All Filed Too
On September 18 — just days before OG.com’s Thursday submission — Coinbase, Payward (the parent company behind Kraken) through Bitnomial, and Kalshi all dropped their own applications to offer perpetual futures on individual US stocks. Four major platforms in one week. That’s not a coincidence; it’s basically a land grab.
Perps aren’t new. BitMEX introduced them in 2016 and crypto traders have been using them ever since, largely because continuous exposure without contract rollovers is just easier to manage. No expiration means no scramble to close and reopen positions every quarter. The model took off in crypto markets and it’s been sitting there, mostly locked out of US equity markets, for years. Now a bunch of platforms want in at the same time, and they’re all betting the CFTC is ready to say yes.
The regulatory backdrop shifted enough to make that bet look reasonable. The SEC gave limited approval for on-chain trading of tokenized US stocks under its Innovation Exemption — a move that would’ve seemed unlikely not long ago. The CFTC, separately, gave regulatory relief to software providers that connect users to regulated derivatives platforms, including platforms dealing in perpetual contracts. And before any of these filings landed, the CFTC had already set up a case-by-case review process specifically for perps. Kalshi’s Bitcoin perpetual futures got the green light in May. Certain registered exchanges got permission in June to convert existing crypto futures into perpetual contracts. The agency has been moving, even if slowly.
The CLARITY Act didn’t help. It failed to advance in the Senate, which left a legislative gap that regulators are now trying to fill through their own rulemaking and exemptions rather than a clean statutory framework. That’s murky territory — probably workable, but not ideal.
What OG.com’s Filing Actually Proposes
The mechanics matter here. Cash-settled means no physical delivery of shares — positions close in cash, which keeps things cleaner from a clearing standpoint. Single-stock means each contract tracks one company’s equity rather than an index. And perpetual means the contract has no end date, so traders can hold as long as they want without the friction of rolling. OG.com’s proposed rules cover all of this, and the CFTC now has to decide whether the structure clears the bar.
OG.com’s position is a bit unusual. It’s not a crypto exchange trying to edge into equities — it’s a CFTC-regulated derivatives platform with a clearinghouse already in place, spun off from a major crypto company, with Robinhood as a stakeholder. That combination probably matters when regulators read the filing. Marszalek has framed the diversification push as deliberate, and the Robinhood deal gives OG.com distribution that pure crypto platforms don’t have.
Kalshi’s situation is worth watching separately. The prediction markets platform already got CFTC approval for Bitcoin perps in May, which means it has some experience navigating this specific review process. Its application for single-stock perps puts it in direct competition with OG.com, Coinbase, and Bitnomial — four platforms with different regulatory histories and different business models all chasing the same product approval.
Coinbase is the biggest name in the group by market profile. Payward going through Bitnomial adds Kraken’s reach to the mix. It’s unclear yet which application the CFTC will prioritize or whether it’ll move on all of them in parallel. No details on timeline from the agency.
The broader picture is that US equity derivatives markets could look pretty different if even one of these applications gets approved. Perpetual futures give traders a tool that traditional options and futures don’t quite replicate — the indefinite hold, the no-rollover structure, the 24/5 access. Retail traders who’ve used perps in crypto know how they work. Institutional desks would need to think harder about risk management without expiration-driven discipline built into the contract. Both groups would probably show up.
OG.com’s filing is now in the CFTC’s queue alongside three competitors. The agency approved Kalshi’s Bitcoin perps in May and cleared exchange conversions in June — so the machinery exists. Whether it moves fast enough to matter for any of these platforms is another question entirely.
The CFTC’s case-by-case review process has no published deadline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is OG.com asking the CFTC to approve?
OG.com filed proposed rules asking the CFTC to let it list cash-settled single-stock perpetual futures — contracts tied to individual US stocks with no expiration date, trading 24 hours a day, five days a week.
Which other platforms filed similar applications?
Coinbase, Payward (Kraken’s parent) through Bitnomial, and Kalshi all filed applications on September 18 to offer perpetual futures on individual US stocks, just before OG.com’s Thursday submission.
Why It Matters
The introduction of perpetual stock futures by platforms like OG.com and Coinbase represents a significant evolution in the U.S. derivatives market, potentially attracting a new wave of traders interested in the flexibility and continuous trading these contracts offer. This development could disrupt traditional trading practices, as cash-settled perpetual futures allow for more dynamic strategies and risk management, aligning with the growing trend of integrating cryptocurrency trading mechanisms into mainstream financial markets. As regulatory bodies like the CFTC evaluate these innovations, their decisions will likely shape the future landscape of both crypto and traditional finance.
