Kalshi Looks Beyond Crypto for Perpetual Futures After $5.5B Debut
Kalshi is seeking to broaden its CFTC-regulated perpetual futures offering beyond crypto after posting $5.5 billion in trading volume in its first two weeks, Bloomberg reported.
The milestone comes less than three weeks after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved Kalshi's bitcoin perpetual contract on May 29, making it the first U.S.-registered venue to list true perpetual futures as a futures product. Kalshi now has 11 crypto-referenced contracts live. Co-founder Tarek Mansour said the company is in discussions with regulators about adding other asset classes, a shift that could move Kalshi from a prediction-market platform toward a multi-asset derivatives exchange.
The early volume is being read as a proof point for the regulatory framework the CFTC put in place in late May. Alongside approving Kalshi's BTCPERP contract, the agency issued a policy statement stating that perpetual contracts in asset classes outside that initial order would need a voluntary, case-by-case review under Regulation 40.3. That process would govern any push into non-crypto commodities, equity indexes, or foreign exchange pairs.
The CFTC's May 29 advisory on 24/7 trading and clearing also outlines the operational expectations that broader categories of perpetuals would bring.
Kalshi's expansion ambitions build on earlier steps. In April, it launched a dedicated Commodities Hub for event contracts tied to energy, metals, and agricultural markets. Offshore perpetual futures have surged from $28 trillion in annual notional in 2023 to more than $90 trillion in 2025, a market that U.S.-regulated venues could not access until this spring.
A separate June 12 CFTC no-action letter allows other designated contract markets to convert existing perpetual-style digital commodity contracts into true perpetuals ahead of a June 30 deadline, pointing to additional DCM participation. Any move by Kalshi into equity-index or FX perpetuals would require new filings under Regulation 40.3, leaving timing dependent on the regulatory process.
