Coinbase files for U.S. regulatory approval to offer equity perpetuals

Coinbase filed documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday to offer a new type of financial product called equity perpetual futures. The company's Chief Policy Officer shared the news on social media. These contracts track the price of stocks but never expire, so traders can hold them as long as they want. They also allow people to trade stocks around the clock without actually owning any shares. Coinbase still needs approval from two regulators: the SEC and the CFTC. The company already has CFTC approval for crypto futures. Europe has approved similar products, but they are not yet available in U.S. equity markets. A competing platform, Kalshi, has also applied to the CFTC for a similar product.