Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong praises SEC and CFTC leadership for cooling “turf wars” over stock derivatives

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong credited the top leadership at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for helping end what he described as “turf wars” over jurisdiction for “stock perps,” or perpetual derivatives tied to stock prices. The remarks were reported in market coverage tied to a legal filing in a case over how the derivatives market should be regulated.

Armstrong’s comments came as Coinbase joined other firms, including Kalshi, Payward, and Paradigm, in asking a court to accept a brief supporting the CFTC. A supporting brief is an additional submission that argues why a specific regulator’s approach should be followed, usually by laying out legal and policy reasons the court should consider.

“Stock perps” refers to perpetual derivative contracts whose value is linked to an underlying asset such as a stock. Perpetual contracts are designed to function without a fixed expiration date, with pricing adjustments intended to keep the derivative’s value aligned with the reference price of the underlying asset. In the U.S., the central regulatory dispute often turns on whether such contracts are best treated as securities products under the SEC’s framework or as commodity derivatives under the CFTC’s authority.

The market report characterizes Coinbase as aligning itself with the CFTC in the dispute over regulatory boundaries. Beyond the request to accept the brief and the firms involved, the coverage does not spell out Coinbase’s specific legal arguments, the precise claims in the underlying case, or the exact relief the parties are asking the court to grant.