The "US stock futures" that appear on the pages of crypto exchanges do not refer to a single product. They could be stock index futures from traditional markets, perpetual stock index contracts traded on US regulated exchanges, or individual stocks or ETF perpetual contracts offered by crypto platforms. Although these products are all related to US stock prices, they differ in trading hours, expiration arrangements, settlement methods, and holding attributes.
This difference directly affects product comparisons. Taking the S&P 500 futures of CME as an example, it is not the same instrument as the perpetual contracts of NVDA-USDT on crypto exchanges, nor is it the same as directly purchasing NVIDIA stocks.
Three types of products have different structures.
The first category is traditional U.S. stock index futures, which are usually listed on regulated markets and primarily track stock indices rather than individual stocks. Common products include E-mini and Micro E - mini, which cover indices such as the S&P 500, NASDAQ 100, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Russell 2000. These contracts have fixed contract months and must be settled upon expiration.
The trading hours for such products are also longer than the regular trading hours of U.S. stock spot markets. Taking CME Micro E - mini as an example, trading usually continues from Sunday evening until Friday afternoon, with fixed pause periods in between. Therefore, it is nearly 24/7 trading on weekdays, but not continuous on weekends.
There are also perpetual products in the US market as well.
The second category is the perpetual stock index futures regulated in the United States. Coinbase Derivatives launched such products in 2026, adopting a funding rate mechanism to keep the contract price as close as possible to the corresponding index. The first batch of products covers theme indices such as technology, defense, and large U.S. listed companies.
However, "perpetual" does not mean that there is absolutely no expiration date. The article mentions that the current perpetual contract with the identifier Coinbase is marked to expire in November 2030, and the trading period is also from Sunday evening to Friday, rather than operating continuously for 7 days a week.
Cryptocurrency platforms are getting closer to perpetual contracts.
The third category consists of perpetual contracts for individual stocks provided by crypto exchanges. Bitget is one example of these. Products such as NVDAUSDT, AAPLUSDT, TSLAUSDT, and QQQUSDT are traded and settled using USDT, with prices anchored to stocks in traditional markets or ETF.
- Supports both long and short positions.
- Margin is usually secured by collateral such as USDT.
- Trading can continue during U.S. stock market closures.
Therefore, what such products provide is a price exposure, rather than ownership of stocks. There is a fundamental difference between this and directly holding US stocks.
Different from tokenized stocks
The article also distinguishes between tokenized stocks and stock perpetual contracts. Tokenized stocks are typically provided in the form of tokens that offer exposure linked to stocks or ETF, while stock perpetual contracts are essentially still derivatives, with their value fluctuating in accordance with the underlying asset.
Taking Bitget as an example, the platform offers both tokenized stock products and perpetual stock contracts, but their purposes are different. The former belongs to a separate product line, while the latter is mainly used for leveraged long-short trading.
24/7 trading does not equate to consistent liquidity.
Encrypted, native stock perpetual contracts can continue to be traded after the U.S. stock market closes, including during the night, on weekends, and on holidays. This allows traders to respond to news more quickly without having to wait for the U.S. market to reopen.
However, 24/7 trading does not mean that liquidity is always consistent. The article cites research by Block Scholes on the perpetual contracts NVDA-USDT, SPY-USDT, QQQ-USDT, and XAU-USDT on Bitget, stating that while these markets operate around the clock, liquidity and trading activity vary significantly between regular US stock market hours and weekends.
Therefore, when comparing different 'US stock futures' products, it is necessary to confirm at least the following issues: whether what is being tracked is an index, ETF, or individual stocks; whether there is a maturity date; what kind of assets are used for margin and settlement; and whether the trading hours are extended on working days or continuous 24/7 trading.
