Blockchain Association urges SEC and CFTC to coordinate on equity perpetuals

The Blockchain Association filed formal comments on August 25 urging the SEC and CFTC to build a joint regulatory framework for equity perpetuals, a class of derivatives that has generated massive volume overseas but remains effectively banned from US trading venues. The filing arrives at a moment when both agencies are actively soliciting feedback on how to handle perpetual contracts, products that function like futures but never expire. What the Blockchain Association is asking for At its core, the proposal is straightforward: use the existing joint security futures framework that the SEC and CFTC already share as a template for regulating equity perpetuals. Rather than inventing new rules from scratch, the Association argues both agencies should adapt what already works. The filing also calls for a “technology-neutral, outcomes-based approach” to regulation. Translation: don’t write rules that single out blockchain-based platforms, and focus on what a product does rather than what tech stack it runs on. Equity perpetuals are perpetual futures contracts tied to equities that have no expiration date. Instead of settling at a fixed point, they use a mechanism called funding rates t...