Kalshi Brings Crypto’s Perpetual Futures Model to Stocks With CFTC Filing

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.