Blockchain Association Presses SEC and CFTC for Joint Equity Perpetuals Framework

The Blockchain Association delivered a policy letter to SEC Chair Gary Gensler and CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam on Monday urging the two agencies to establish a joint regulatory framework for equity perpetual contracts, a product class that currently falls between the SEC's securities remit and the CFTC's derivatives authority. The letter, reviewed by CoinBatmi, argues that jurisdictional uncertainty has pushed U.S. retail and institutional traders toward offshore venues offering equity-linked perpetuals with leverage up to 100x. Those platforms operate without U.S. investor protections, custody standards, or reporting obligations. The Association estimates that U.S. CoinGecko data shows participants account for 35-40% of global equity perpetual volume despite the absence of a domestic regulated venue. Equity perpetuals function like traditional futures but lack an expiration date, tracking an underlying stock or index through a funding-rate mechanism. Under current law, the SEC treats the equity reference as a security; the CFTC views the derivative contract as a swap. Neither agency has issued definitive guidance on which regulator leads when both elements are present. The Association's letter requests three concrete steps: a joint staff working group within 30 days, a public roundtable within 90 days, and a proposed rulemaking timeline published by year-end. It cites the 2012 SEC-CFTC joint framework for security-based swaps as precedent for interagency coordination. per CoinGecko, | ETH dominance | 11.1% | CoinGecko, Aug 26 | Market structure analysts note that a coordinated framework would likely require dual registration for platforms, broker-dealer for the equity leg, swap execution facility for the derivative leg, mirroring the security-based swap model. That structure could raise compliance costs but would also bring margin rules, segregation requirements, and audit trails to a product currently traded in regulatory darkness. The CFTC has not commented publicly on the letter. The SEC's Division of Trading and Markets acknowledged receipt but declined to preview next steps. A joint working group would need White House sign-off under the current memorandum of understanding between the agencies. **What the letter actually proposes** The Association stops short of drafting legislative text. Instead, it maps the existing statutory authorities: Section 3(a)(68) of the Exchange Act for security-based swaps, Section 1a(47) of the Commodity Exchange Act for mixed swaps, and the 2010 Dodd-Frank Title VII framework that split rulemaking between the two agencies. The letter argues that equity perpetuals fit the mixed-swap definition and should be governed by the joint jurisdiction provisions Congress already wrote.