The group said regulators should focus on core protections such as transparency, market surveillance, customer asset protection, financial integrity and operational resilience.
The Blockchain Association is calling on the SEC and CFTC to provide a clear regulatory framework for equity perpetuals, saying that clearer rules could allow these products to operate in the US rather than remain offshore.
In comments filed with both agencies, the industry group said equity perpetuals currently trade exclusively outside the US, leaving American markets without the price discovery generated by the products and depriving investors of protections associated with US oversight.
The group argued that agencies do not necessarily need new legislation to act. It recommended applying the existing joint framework for security futures, using existing regulatory authority for novel derivatives when appropriate and developing rules that are technology-neutral and based on regulatory outcomes rather than specific infrastructure.
The proposed framework would emphasize transparency, auditability, surveillance, customer-asset protection, financial integrity and operational resilience. The association said blockchain-based market infrastructure could support those goals and warned that regulatory ambiguity is already driving market activity and innovation offshore.
