Kalshi, Coinbase and trading firms ask to back CFTC in stock perpetuals lawsuit

Kalshi, Coinbase, Kraken parent Payward and three trading firms asked a federal judge in New York on November 9, 2026, for permission to file a brief supporting the CFTC in the lawsuit over single-stock perpetual futures. The court docket shows the letter motion, filed by Coinbase’s counsel and addressed to Judge Lorna G. Schofield, with the proposed brief attached.

The other firms joining the brief are DRW Holdings, Jump Trading and Paradigm Operations. The same day, the SEC filed a motion for leave to submit its own friend-of-the-court brief. As of November 10, that brief was not available on CourtListener, and the docket entry does not say which side it supports.

What the case is about

The Capital Markets Alliance Association, whose members include Cboe and Citadel Securities according to The Block, sued the CFTC after applications from Kalshi, Coinbase Derivatives and Payward’s Bitnomial exchange to list perpetual futures on large-cap U.S. stocks were deemed approved on November 2. The association argues these contracts are security-based swaps that cannot trade on CFTC-regulated exchanges. The court already denied its request for a temporary restraining order, and as of November 10 its motion for a preliminary injunction is pending.

The firms’ argument

The brief argues that the key question is whether equity perpetuals are “security futures” under the Commodity Exchange Act, because a security future by definition cannot be a swap. It says the contracts qualify: each references a single stock, is cash settled when a holder closes out, and uses periodic funding payments tied to the stock’s value. The law requires delivery in the “future,” the firms argue, not on a “specific future date.”

They also argue the SEC was “at the table from the very start.” The two agencies jointly sought comment on the question, and each exchange registered with the SEC and filed its listing standards there.

On policy, the firms say reclassifying the contracts as security-based swaps would not protect investors, because the SEC has never built a framework for retail exchange trading of those products. The brief argues that would push traders to offshore platforms.

Why it matters for Kalshi

Kalshi’s interest goes beyond event contracts. The brief notes the CFTC approved Kalshi’s perpetual Bitcoin contract in May 2026, and Kalshi began offering single-stock perpetuals on November 5. The firms say the preliminary injunction the association seeks would prevent Kalshi, Coinbase and Bitnomial from listing the contracts.

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