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Ondo pushes US onshore
Ondo Finance urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to bring stock perpetual futures onshore, arguing that “Nothing in the statutory definition of a security futures product requires a fixed expiration date.”
“Ondo Finance has asked US regulators to bring perpetual futures tied to individual stocks onshore after its offshore platform recorded $8 billion in cumulative trading volume within roughly six weeks.”
In its Aug. 24 comment letters, Ondo said its offshore platform recorded $8 billion in cumulative trading volume within roughly six weeks, with a Panama-based affiliate processing $8 billion in cumulative volume by Aug. 14.
Ondo also argued that scheduled funding payments can keep perpetual contracts aligned with the price of their underlying stocks, performing “a similar function to expiration in traditional futures.”
Cointelegraph reported Ondo ranks fourth among tokenized RWA managers by distributed value, citing about $2.6 billion in distributed value as of Wednesday, according to RWA.xyz data.
The company’s proposal came as U.S. regulators reconsider how existing market rules apply to onchain products, including perpetual futures and tokenized securities.
Funding, margin, and classification
Ondo told regulators that the lack of a fixed expiration date does not prevent a perpetual contract from qualifying as a security futures product, and it said the economic structure of the product matters more than whether the contract ends on a predetermined date.
In its filing, Ondo argued that “scheduled funding payments can keep the contracts close to the prices of their underlying shares,” describing funding as a mechanism that replaces expiration in traditional futures.
The proposal also covered product classification, margin requirements, and the use of onchain market data, with Ondo asking the SEC and CFTC to apply rules already used for futures tied to individual securities rather than creating a separate regulatory category.
Crypto News reported that Ondo’s request would not automatically authorize every stock perpetual, because exchanges, brokers, and clearing organizations would still need to comply with registration, listing, margin, and customer-protection requirements.
A similar request reached both agencies on Aug. 24, when the Hyperliquid Policy Center proposed treating equity perpetuals with futures-like characteristics as security futures.
Regulatory momentum and stakes
Cointelegraph said the SEC and CFTC have stepped up coordination this year, signing a memorandum of understanding in March to harmonize oversight in areas where their jurisdictions overlap.
“signing a memorandum of understanding in March to harmonize oversight”
On Tuesday, Cointelegraph reported the SEC proposed overhauling its decades-old transfer agent framework, citing growing demand for blockchain-native recordkeeping and tokenized securities in U.S. markets.
Cointelegraph also tied Ondo’s push to broader regulatory signals, noting that President Donald Trump said in August that CFTC Chair Michael Selig was working to bring Hyperliquid into the United States in a “fully compliant and legal fashion.”
Crypto News added that former SEC counsel Ashley Ebersole said creating a U.S. regulatory pathway for onchain perpetuals could take 10 to 12 months if the agencies pursue rulemaking, public comments and implementation.
Bloomberg Línea described a separate but related push for 24/7 blockchain-based markets, saying Trade.xyz—created from Hyperliquid—had generated about US$500.000 millones in trading volume and that Hyperliquid and Trade.xyz were pressing regulators to open the door to pre-IPO perpetual futures in the United States.