Key Takeaways
- On August 24, Ondo Finance submitted three formal comment letters to US financial regulators, requesting authorization for perpetual futures contracts linked to individual American equities within the current security futures regulatory framework.
- The company’s offshore operation based in Panama has already processed $8 billion in total trading volume for stablecoin-settled stock perpetuals within approximately six weeks of going live.
- Ondo’s central claim is that perpetual contracts can qualify as security futures products without requiring a predetermined expiration date.
- In March, the SEC and CFTC established a formal coordination agreement and are currently assessing how current regulations apply to blockchain-based derivatives and tokenized assets.
- Following President Trump’s statement that regulators were facilitating Hyperliquid’s US entry, the platform’s HYPE token surged more than 20%.
Ondo Finance has formally petitioned American financial authorities to authorize perpetual futures contracts on individual equities for domestic trading, contending that the existing regulatory infrastructure is sufficient to accommodate these products.
The blockchain-based finance firm delivered three detailed comment submissions to both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on August 24. The filings maintain that fresh legislation is unnecessary for introducing stock perpetual futures to US markets.
Ondo’s Regulatory Proposal
Ondo is requesting that both agencies classify perpetual stock futures as security futures products within the current regulatory structure. The comment letters address three critical areas: how products should be categorized, what margin requirements should apply, and how blockchain-sourced pricing information can be utilized.
The cornerstone of Ondo’s position is that perpetual contracts can satisfy the definition of security futures products even without specified settlement dates. Conventional futures contracts conclude on predetermined dates. In contrast, perpetual contracts employ continuous funding rate mechanisms to maintain price alignment with the underlying equity.
The funding mechanism works as follows: when a perpetual contract’s price exceeds the benchmark reference, long position holders make payments to short position holders. This payment direction inverts when the contract price falls below the reference benchmark. According to Ondo, this funding rate system achieves the same economic outcome as traditional contract expiration.
Through its Panama-registered affiliate, the company currently provides these instruments to qualified users in international markets. The offshore platform processes transactions in stablecoins and reached $8 billion in aggregate trading volume by August 14āroughly six weeks following its market debut.
Oversight Framework and Industry Context
Earlier this year in March, the SEC and CFTC executed a memorandum of understanding designed to enhance coordination in jurisdictional areas where their regulatory mandates intersect. Security futures represent one such overlapping domain, as the SEC maintains authority over securities markets while the CFTC governs American futures exchanges.
Ondo isn’t alone in this regulatory initiative. The Hyperliquid Policy Center submitted a parallel petition on the same date, August 24. According to their filing, Hyperliquid’s equity perpetual trading venues had facilitated over $480 billion in total notional trading volume during their initial 10 months of operation.
In August, President Trump publicly stated that CFTC Chairman Michael Selig was actively working toward bringing Hyperliquid’s operations to the United States through proper regulatory channels. In the wake of these presidential remarks, Hyperliquid’s native HYPE token experienced a price increase exceeding 20%, and has climbed nearly 49% throughout the past month, currently trading near $81.
Ashley Ebersole, formerly counsel at the SEC, suggested that establishing a compliant US regulatory framework for blockchain-based perpetuals might require 10 to 12 months should agencies opt for formal rulemaking procedures, though the timeline could accelerate if regulators choose to interpret existing statutory authority more expansively.
Earlier this week, the SEC put forward proposed amendments to its transfer agent regulations aimed at accommodating blockchain-based recordkeeping systems and tokenized securities instruments.
Within the tokenized real-world asset management sector, Ondo currently holds the fourth position with approximately $2.6 billion in distributed value, based on data from RWA.xyz.
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