Kalshi became the first U.S.-based firm to receive regulators’ blessing to offer a perpetual futures product, which is a novel kind of derivative that was popularized by crypto traders. While this approval only extends to futures contracts on Bitcoin, perpetual futures—known among traders as “perps”—have lately become popular among non-crypto traders who use the instrument as a vehicle to trade oil and other commodities on the weekends, or to bet on pre-IPO companies.
The CFTC, led by Trump appointee Chairman, Mike Selig, approved the Kalshi request to offer perps. Selig has been an advocate for bringing perps onshore since being confirmed as CFTC chairman in December 2025.
“This morning, the @CFTC took historic action to permit the listing of a true bitcoin perpetual contract by a CFTC-registered exchange, charting a path for one of the most liquid segments of the crypto asset markets to exist within the US regulatory framework,” Selig said in a post on X.
The move brings U.S. traders closer to accessing a sector that has exploded in popularity over the past year. Perps are futures contracts without a set expiry date, which makes them more appealing for traders who are unlikely to ask for delivery of the underlying asset—and who may lose out by having to renew their position every set number of days. Perps also let traders take on a large amount of leverage, making them popular among retail traders who are looking for risky bets. Last year, crypto exchanges processed $86 trillion in perpetual futures volume, according to data from CoinGecko.
Perps’ entry to the U.S. market marks the first time that Kalshi, which is one of two major prediction markets, has given its users access to the financial instruments.
“I started working on perps in December 2024 with some of my favorite people at Kalshi. A year and a half later, and with some more amazing people joining the company and helping make this a reality, we’re finally launching the first perpetual futures product in the US,” Kalshi co-founder Luana Lopes Lara said on X.
So far, perps have been largely inaccessible to U.S. users—assuming they aren’t using a VPN. Coinbase offers a perps-like product in the U.S., but due to regulatory uncertainty it has yet to offer true perps.
The instrument has lately been synonymous with Hyperliquid, a blockchain-based perps exchange that has seen its market capitalization roughly double in the past three months. Hyperliquid has become popular among oil traders who are looking to position themselves based on the latest happenings in the Middle East.
Jeffrey Sprecher, CEO of the Intercontinental Exchange, was complimentary of Hyperliquid’s team and vision in onstage remarks during a Bernstein conference earlier this week.
“This Hyperliquid that we’re talking, if you haven’t heard about it, it’s bigger than NASDAQ, okay?”
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