Ondo Finance is advocating for a regulatory shift that would allow perpetual futures tied to individual US stocks to be traded domestically under existing SEC and CFTC frameworks. The firm argues that the current US legal structure is robust enough to accommodate these derivative products without the need for entirely new legislation. By integrating these crypto-native instruments into the regulated US market, Ondo seeks to provide a compliant pathway for investors to access leveraged equity exposure, bridging the gap between decentralized finance (DeFi) and traditional markets.
The push for "onshoring" these assets is a strategic move to recapture trading volume that currently flows to unregulated offshore exchanges. Currently, many global traders use perpetual swaps—contracts without expiration dates—to speculate on stock prices through crypto platforms that lack US oversight. Ondo’s proposal suggests that by treating these instruments as securities-based swaps or regulated futures, US authorities could provide better investor protections while keeping liquidity within the American financial ecosystem.
This development is particularly significant for the Real World Asset (RWA) sector, where Ondo Finance is already a prominent player through its tokenized Treasury products. Bringing stock perpetuals onshore would represent a major milestone in the tokenization of traditional equities. It would allow for 24/7 trading and stablecoin settlement of synthetic stocks like Apple or Tesla, all while adhering to the strict compliance standards required by US regulators.
Market participants should closely monitor for any formal responses or rule-making signals from the SEC and CFTC. While US regulators have traditionally been wary of synthetic stock products due to concerns over market manipulation and investor risk, the growing institutional interest in RWA could force a re-evaluation. If Ondo’s proposal gains traction, it could set a precedent for other DeFi protocols looking to enter the US market and fundamentally change how retail and institutional investors interact with both crypto and equity derivatives.