CFTC approves Kalshi's single-stock perpetual futures amid lawsuit
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has approved trading on more than 50 single-stock perpetual futures contracts from Kalshi. The approval drew immediate legal challenge from Citadel and Cboe-backed groups against the regulator. Andy Ross, Kalshi's head of institutional business, criticized the lawsuit, noting that monopolies tend to sue when challenged. The contracts represent a new product category sitting between traditional options and prediction markets.
Single-stock perpetuals give Kalshi the year-round fee revenue that election and sports cycles cannot deliver. Unlike expiring event contracts, these instruments run indefinitely, so Kalshi captures ongoing income rather than one settlement. The timing is deliberate: Kalshi is fighting state gambling actions in Ohio, Tennessee, Missouri, and Louisiana, where its CFTC preemption shield is already cracked.
A federal product win bolsters its argument in those courts. The launch also pits Kalshi directly against incumbent derivatives exchanges for mainstream trading volume, not just against rival prediction markets. Competitors must now file parallel CFTC applications or cede this segment. First trades will show whether retail prediction-market users adopt equity-linked perpetuals or stay in options.
Kalshi's single-stock perpetual futures approval, following its recent $1 billion funding round, accelerates its push from niche prediction markets into mainstream derivatives.