Kalshi filed with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to launch perpetual futures tied to a major US stock index and to copper, extending a leverage-trading structure it pioneered in Bitcoin (BTC) earlier this year.
The filing puts a prediction market operator in direct competition with CME Group and Cboe Global Markets. Both exchanges have built decades of business on contracts with fixed expiration dates.
A Product Built for Crypto, Now Aimed at Stocks
Perpetual futures, known as perps, carry no expiration date. Traders hold a position indefinitely, paying or receiving periodic funding to keep the contract price aligned with the underlying asset.
Historically, the structure originated offshore, because domestic regulators had not approved a similar listing. Exchanges outside the country built entire businesses on crypto perps as a result.
However, that changed in May. The CFTC approved Kalshi’s Bitcoin perpetual futures contract, the first allowed on a US-regulated exchange.
The contract crossed $1 billion in trading volume within its first week, Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour said. It topped $5.5 billion within two weeks of launching June 3.
Kalshi has since used that approval as a template. It filed for gold and silver perpetuals last month, followed by stock index and copper contracts on Tuesday.
CME’s Lawsuit Looms Over the New Filing
Kalshi’s stock filing lands as CME Group pursues a lawsuit over crypto perps. CME argues the Bitcoin perpetual is a swap, not a future.
Kalshi and the CFTC disagree, however, maintaining it is simply a futures contract without a fixed expiration date. The stock index filing leans on the same argument. It points to standardized contract sizes, central clearing, and margin requirements.
Traditional exchanges have not stood still either. Cboe Global Markets launched Mini-S&P 500 binary options through Interactive Brokers in June. In contrast, Cboe’s product uses fixed-settlement binary options rather than a perpetual structure.
BitMEX, the exchange that invented the offshore crypto perpetual swap in 2014, announced its closure in July. Meanwhile, it will close by September 23.
Analysts have cited reasons behind BitMEX’s closure as a sign the offshore era for perps may be ending. US-regulated venues are capturing that volume onshore instead.
The CFTC has not set a timeline for reviewing Kalshi’s stock index filing. Therefore, the CME lawsuit’s outcome will likely determine how quickly leveraged, never-expiring stock exposure reaches American traders.