Coinbase files stock and ETF futures proposal as CFTC approval remains pending

Coinbase Derivatives has filed a proposed framework for perpetual futures tied to individual US stocks and exchange-traded funds. The contracts remain subject to regulatory approval. A Securities and Exchange Commission notice published Sept. 18 said Coinbase submitted the proposed rule change to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and that the CFTC had not approved it. The CFTC product register still listed the Single Stock Perpetual Futures Contract as "Approval Pending" when checked Sept. 22. The filing is therefore a public rule proposal, not a product currently available to traders. The proposed contracts would be cash-settled and could have no fixed expiration date. Cash settlement would resolve gains and losses through money payments rather than delivery of the underlying stock or ETF shares. The structure would give traders exposure to changes in a reference price without making them shareholders or conveying ownership rights. Gains and losses would arise from the futures position rather than from owning and later selling the underlying shares. Open positions would be subject to funding payments. The broad framework does not establish one universal funding rate or interval for every contract. A product appendix or identified market reference materials would specify each product's funding methodology, payment mechanics, interval, publication practices and operational timing. The proposed trading week would run from Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern through Friday at 5 p.m. Eastern. Holidays, maintenance windows and other exchange-specified periods could interrupt that schedule. Trading would also remain subject to pauses, suspensions and regulatory halts. An official @coinbase post described similar 24/5-style exposure, but Coinbase said it had filed and was "working to bring" the product to the US. Until the regulatory process advances and Coinbase supplies final contract-specific terms, the filing does not establish a launch or current availability. Claims that the product is already approved, launched or open to traders are premature.