Hayes ‘flattered’ as Coinbase backs CFTC on stock perps
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Coinbase, Kalshi, Kraken parent Payward, DRW Holdings, Jump Trading and Paradigm asked a federal judge on November 9 to let them file a brief backing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in its dispute with the Capital Markets Alliance Association (CMAA), Cointelegraph reported. Two days later, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes said he was “flattered” by the show of support for stock perpetual futures, a decade after his old exchange launched the first Bitcoin perpetual swap.
Hayes told Bitcoin World that Washington’s response to the 2016 launch was “less than warm,” and framed the current court fight as a kind of compliment. “Ten years later, Coinbase is in federal court defending the right to offer them on US stocks. I’m flattered,” he said, adding that imitation is the sincerest form of regulation.
How the Coinbase-led defence lines up
BitMEX’s Bitcoin perpetual swap let traders hold leveraged positions without a fixed expiry date, and the format became a fixture of crypto trading. Single-stock perpetuals apply the same model to individual equities: traders speculate on share prices without owning the underlying stock, and the contracts never expire.
That missing end date is the pivot of the argument. The CMAA says a contract with no expiry is not a future but a security-based swap, which would sit mainly under the SEC and carry stricter limits on retail trading. Coinbase and its allies say nothing requires a security future to expire, which would leave the contracts under joint CFTC and SEC oversight, AMBCrypto reported.
Wojciech Kaszycki, strategy adviser to BTCS SA, told Bitcoin World that the absence of a fixed expiration or delivery date complicates treating the products as futures. He also warned that a ruling against the CFTC could move activity to offshore and decentralized venues. “The product doesn’t die; it just changes address,” he said.
Where the two reports differ
The accounts diverge on procedural timing. Cointelegraph says the brief was submitted on Monday and accepted on Tuesday, and reports the SEC’s proposed brief as filed on Monday. AMBCrypto describes the six firms as asking the judge on November 9 to let them file, and says the trade group’s next filing was due on the 10th. AMBCrypto also notes the brief was shared by Coinbase’s legal representative Molly Abraham, a detail Cointelegraph does not include, while Cointelegraph is alone in reporting the SEC’s proposed filing and its review of exchange listing rules.
Both outlets agree on the judge’s early lean. Caproni said the contracts looked more like swaps but declined to halt trading because the group could not show urgent, lasting harm. CMAA contended in a Tuesday filing that the CFTC approved the contracts without adequately explaining its decision or resolving open regulatory questions.
Why it matters
The case decides whether US-regulated exchanges can list a leveraged equities product that never expires, and whether retail access to it is set by the CFTC’s lighter futures regime or the SEC’s tighter swaps rules. Coinbase is carrying much of that argument, and the outcome lands against a difficult stretch for the company, whose stock fell 10.6% despite a $719 million Q3 profit. A loss for the CFTC would not necessarily end the product; Kaszycki’s warning suggests it would relocate rather than disappear.
What to watch
The next marker is the CMAA’s follow-up filing and how Caproni rules on the claim that the CFTC exceeded its statutory authority. The SEC’s review of the exchanges’ listing rules, and whether it moves to set them aside, will shape the answer on classification.
Market snapshot
Bitcoin traded at $66,755 (about ₹6,292,643) on November 14, 2026, down 2.5% over 24 hours and 12.1% over seven days, with a market cap of $1.34 trillion and 24-hour volume of $25.38 billion, according to CoinPaprika data fetched at 05:06 UTC. Broader sentiment around crypto derivatives products has been firm even as spot prices slid.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who wants stock perpetual futures blocked in the US?
The Capital Markets Alliance Association, a trade group whose members include Cboe and Citadel Securities, sued to undo the CFTC’s approval. It argues the contracts should be treated as security-based swaps, which face tighter limits on retail trading.
Why did Arthur Hayes react to the Coinbase filing?
Hayes said he was flattered because BitMEX launched its Bitcoin perpetual swap in 2016, when Washington’s reaction was, in his words, less than warm. He described the Coinbase court defence ten years later as imitation.
What did Judge Valerie Caproni rule?
The US District Judge denied the group’s request for a temporary restraining order because it had not shown likely irreparable harm. She did find the alliance likely to succeed on its claim that the CFTC exceeded its authority.
Is the SEC involved in the stock perpetuals case?
Yes. Cointelegraph reported the SEC submitted a proposed court brief opposing the request to halt trading and said it was reviewing the exchanges’ listing rules. It left open whether the contracts qualify as security futures or security-based swaps.
What happens to trading if the court rules against the CFTC?
Strategy adviser Wojciech Kaszycki warned that a ruling against the CFTC could push activity toward offshore and decentralized platforms, saying the product does not die, it just changes address.
Sources: Cointelegraph, AMBCrypto
