Prediction Market Kalshi Targets Crypto Perpetuals

Kalshi plans to expand beyond prediction markets and enter the crypto market by adding perpetual futures on bitcoin and other crypto tokens in the United States, The Information reported Tuesday (April 21), citing unnamed sources.

Crypto perpetuals, which are futures contracts that enable leveraged bets on crypto prices without an expiration date, have been largely off limits to U.S. traders but are popular on overseas exchanges, according to the report.

After initially offering crypto perpetuals, Kalshi may later add perpetuals based on other asset classes, the report said.

Reached by PYMNTS, Kalshi declined to comment on the report.

According to the report, Kalshi’s licenses from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) position the company to offer crypto perpetuals if the CFTC allows those products in the U.S. CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig said in March that the regulator plans to do so.

The move would also mark additional competition between prediction market platforms and crypto platforms, which target similar customers and have been expanding their offerings, per the report.

It was reported March 3 that Selig said the CFTC plans to allow perpetual futures contracts for cryptocurrencies to help the U.S. recapture liquidity that has moved to platforms in Asia, Europe and the Bahamas.

Selig said in a March 3 post on X: “The Biden administration drove crypto asset firms and liquidity offshore, including the perpetual futures markets. We’ve had perpetual futures in crypto assets for a very long time, but they’ve developed offshore. We’ve got to bring perpetual futures back to the US and are working towards getting them here soon.”

PYMNTS reported in December that cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase was entering the prediction market game in collaboration with Kalshi and was also expanding its DEX trading integration to include access to futures and perpetual futures trading.

It was also reported in December that ex-FTX executive Brett Harrison raised $35 million for his perpetual futures exchange startup Architect Financial Technologies, in a round that valued it at $187 million.

In October, PYMNTS reported that cryptocurrency platform Kraken’s recent additions included perpetual futures for consumers. The company also acquired the CFTC-regulated designated contract market Small Exchange.