Kalshi launches first CFTC-approved perpetual futures for U.S. traders
Kalshi launched the first CFTC-approved perpetual futures contracts available to U.S. traders, with trading beginning Tuesday, June 3, 2026. The product debuted with Bitcoin perpetual futures, expanding from the regulated prediction-market platform into crypto-linked derivatives. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved Kalshi's bitcoin perpetual futures contract, making it the first regulated crypto perpetual futures product in the U.S. CEO Tarek Mansour described perpetual futures as the 'purest form of trading' in a June 1 CNBC appearance. The contracts target a market that has grown to over $90 trillion in global annual trading volume, previously inaccessible to American institutional investors. Kalshi has since listed additional perpetual futures contracts, including one tied to KXDOGE. The launch arrives as offshore platform Hyperliquid has seen massive growth in the same product category.
This gives U.S. institutions their first regulated onshore venue for perpetual futures, directly competing with the $90 trillion offshore market that Hyperliquid has dominated. Kalshi's CFTC blessing sets the regulatory template that rival platforms must now match to capture domestic perpetuals volume.
Fifth Kalshi product or regulatory milestone in under three days — perpetual futures, bitcoin perpetuals, fine art collectibles, and hedge fund recruiting — deepening its vertical expansion just as Polymarket begins testing competing perpetual contracts with select users.