Coinbase, Kalshi and four other companies backed the CFTC in a lawsuit over whether US exchanges can list perpetual futures tied to individual stocks.

Coinbase, Kalshi and four other companies asked a federal court Monday to accept a brief backing the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in a lawsuit over perpetual futures tied to individual US stocks.

According to a proposed amicus brief shared Monday by Coinbase legal representative Molly Abraham, the group also includes Kraken parent Payward, trading companies DRW Holdings and Jump Trading, and crypto investment company Paradigm Operations. The companies argue that stock perpetual futures fall under existing US futures laws.

The filing comes days after a federal judge found that the CFTC likely “exceeded its statutory authority” in allowing single-stock perpetuals to trade as security futures.

The case could determine whether US exchanges can offer retail traders contracts that track individual stocks without expiring.

On Nov. 3, the CFTC announced that single-stock perpetual futures, or stock perps, could begin trading on US-regulated exchanges for the first time.

The Capital Markets Alliance Association (CMAA), a newly formed trade and advocacy group representing traditional financial market participants and whose members include Cboe and Citadel Securities, sued the CFTC last week, challenging the CFTC’s authority to allow the contracts to trade.

Stock perps allow traders to speculate on the price movements of individual stocks without owning the shares. Unlike traditional futures, they have no fixed expiration date.

The CMAA argues that because the contracts lack a fixed expiration date, they should be regulated as security-based swaps, a type of derivative linked to stocks or other securities that is primarily overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and faces tighter restrictions on retail trading.

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