Kalshi launches US trading of cryptocurrency perpetual futures

Perpetual futures, the most popular trading instrument in crypto that Americans technically weren’t supposed to touch, just got a legal front door. Kalshi, the CFTC-regulated prediction market platform, announced it will offer the first perpetual futures contracts available to US investors, beginning with Bitcoin.

The Bitcoin perpetual contract, trading under the ticker BTCPERP, went live on June 3, 2026. And Kalshi isn’t stopping there: the company plans to roll out contracts on over a dozen additional cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and Dogecoin, pending regulatory approvals.

What are perpetual futures, and why does this matter

Think of a perpetual future as a bet on the price of an asset that never expires. Traditional futures have a settlement date, a moment when the contract closes and someone gets paid. Perpetual futures skip that part entirely, letting traders hold positions indefinitely as long as they can cover their margin.

These instruments have been the bread and butter of offshore crypto exchanges for years. The numbers tell the story. Offshore perpetual futures trading volume exceeded $90 trillion annually as of 2026, a staggering increase from $28 trillion in 2023. That’s roughly tripling in three years, making perpetuals arguably the single most traded product in all of crypto.

The problem, at least for American traders, is that virtually all of that volume has flowed through platforms operating outside US jurisdiction. Kalshi’s launch changes that dynamic in a fundamental way. The CFTC’s approval of the BTCPERP contract means US investors now have a regulated venue for perpetual futures trading for the first time.

Kalshi’s strategic pivot

Kalshi made its name as a prediction market, letting users trade on the outcomes of elections, weather events, and other binary questions. Launching crypto perpetual futures is a significant strategic diversification, one that puts the company in direct competition with an entirely different set of players.

Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour framed the move in ambitious terms during a CNBC appearance on June 1, 2026.

“Perpetual futures are the purest form of trading.”

To sweeten the deal, Kalshi is offering zero trading fees on its perpetual futures contracts during the initial launch period. The initial lineup extends beyond Bitcoin, with Kalshi targeting contracts on Ethereum, Solana, XRP, Dogecoin, and additional tokens, though those will require separate regulatory approvals before going live.

The competitive landscape and what’s at stake

Kalshi’s main offshore competitor is Hyperliquid, a decentralized perpetuals exchange that has grown rapidly by offering deep liquidity and a smooth user experience without requiring KYC verification. Kalshi, by contrast, operates under full CFTC oversight, which means KYC requirements, regulatory reporting, and all the compliance infrastructure that comes with being a licensed US exchange.

That compliance burden is simultaneously Kalshi’s disadvantage and its biggest selling point. Retail traders who prioritize anonymity and minimal friction will likely stick with offshore platforms. But institutional investors, the ones managing pension funds and endowments and family offices, generally can’t touch unregulated venues no matter how attractive the liquidity looks.

The risk that shouldn’t be ignored is leverage itself. Perpetual futures allow traders to take on positions far larger than their collateral, and in a volatile asset class like crypto, that can produce spectacular losses just as easily as spectacular gains. A regulated venue adds guardrails, but it doesn’t eliminate the fundamental risk of leveraged trading in a market that routinely moves 10% in a day.

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