Polymarket tests perpetual contracts with select users
Polymarket has begun testing perpetual contracts with a limited group of users, Vice President of DeFi Engineering Josh announced on X on Saturday, May 31. The crypto-native prediction market platform, historically focused on binary event contracts tied to political, economic, and cultural outcomes, is expanding into perpetual contracts that allow leveraged exposure without expiration dates. No details were provided on contract specifications, timeline for public launch, or how the selected test users were chosen. The move follows closely behind Polymarket's previously reported preparation to launch a leverage product and comes as the CFTC has just approved bitcoin perpetual futures for Kalshi and Coinbase.
Puts Polymarket into direct product competition with Kalshi for leveraged crypto derivatives traders just days after the CFTC cleared U.S. bitcoin perpetual futures. Any gap in contract specifications or margin workflows risks ceding the perpetual-futures battle to Kalshi's already-live CFTC-regulated venue.
Joins Kalshi in the newly opened U.S. perpetual-futures space after the CFTC cleared both platforms this week, widening Polymarket's product stack beyond binary events into direct competition with regulated crypto derivatives venues.