Prediction Market Kalshi Reportedly Plans Regulated Crypto Perpetuals

Kalshi is a designated contract market regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and has primarily offered event contracts tied to politics, economics and other topics. Expanding into crypto perpetuals would take it into a derivatives market dominated by platforms such as Coinbase. Its main selling point is that U.S. retail investors can trade with leverage through a regulated venue.

The latest developments show that the CFTC approved Kalshi’s Bitcoin perpetual contract and Coinbase’s crypto perpetual products on the same day. Kalshi’s product surpassed $1 billion in cumulative trading volume during its first week, making it the fastest-growing product in the platform’s history. The market remains divided, however, over whether such contracts should legally be classified as futures or swaps.