Ondo Finance is urging US regulators to bring perpetual futures tied to individual stocks back onshore, saying the products can fit within the country’s existing security futures framework without the need for new rules.
In three comment letters sent on Aug. 24 to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Ondo said current rules can accommodate perpetual stock futures while also taking account of modern margining practices and onchain market data.
The company said its Panama-based affiliate already offers stablecoin-settled perpetual futures on individual US-listed stocks outside the United States. As of Aug. 14, about six weeks after launch, the platform had recorded $8 billion in cumulative trading volume.
Ondo argued that scheduled funding payments can keep perpetual contracts aligned with the price of the underlying stocks, serving a role similar to expiration in traditional futures markets.
In its product-classification letter, the company wrote: 「Nothing in the statutory definition of a security futures product requires a fixed expiration date.」
Ondo also said many of the stocks underlying offshore perpetuals are primarily traded on US exchanges. The firm wrote: 「Bringing that activity back to the U.S. should not be an open question; it’s something both agencies should actively pursue.」
Ondo says existing law already leaves room for the product
The center of Ondo’s argument is that current US securities law already provides a workable path for single-stock perpetual futures. The company said these instruments can be handled within the existing security futures structure rather than waiting for a new rule set written specifically for them.
It also pointed to changes in market structure since older rules were drafted, saying newer margin models and onchain data systems can be incorporated without breaking the underlying framework.
According to RWA.xyz, Ondo ranked fourth among tokenized real-world asset managers by distributed value as of Wednesday, at about $2.6 billion.
Proposal lands as US agencies revisit rules for onchain markets
Ondo’s proposal comes at a time when US regulators are reexamining how existing market rules apply to onchain products, including perpetual futures and tokenized securities.
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」. Hyperliquid is best known for its onchain perpetual futures market, though neither the CFTC nor Hyperliquid has publicly explained how US access would work.
CoinGecko data shows HYPE, Hyperliquid’s native token, rose more than 20% after Trump’s remarks. By Wednesday, the token was up nearly 49% over the past month and traded at around $81.
The SEC, which oversees securities markets, and the CFTC, which regulates US derivatives markets, have also increased coordination this year. In March, the two agencies signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at harmonizing oversight where their jurisdictions overlap.
On Tuesday, the SEC proposed an overhaul of its decades-old transfer agent framework, citing rising demand in US markets for blockchain-native recordkeeping and tokenized securities as it revisits rules designed for older market infrastructure.