Kalshi perpetual futures hit $5.5B in two weeks

Kalshi’s perpetual futures cleared $5.5 billion in trading volume within the first two weeks after launch, the company reported. Kalshi said it intends to offer the never-expiring contracts in asset classes beyond crypto.

The contracts generated about $1 billion in notional volume in the first week and rose to $5.5 billion by the end of week two. Early activity included event-driven bets tied to the FIFA World Cup and the NBA Finals. Kalshi offered zero trading fees during the initial launch window to help build liquidity.

Perpetual futures are derivatives that do not have an expiration date. They use a periodic funding rate to keep the contract price close to the price of the underlying asset.

Kalshi listed 11 perpetual contracts at launch, all linked to crypto tokens. On May 29, 2026, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved Kalshi’s spot bitcoin-linked perpetual, BTCPERP. The BTCPERP contract went live on June 3 and was described by regulators as the first U.S.-cleared perpetual of its type available to domestic traders.

Kalshi began as a prediction-market platform that sold binary event contracts tied to elections, economic indicators and sports outcomes. The new perpetual futures introduce leveraged derivatives to the platform’s product lineup and give U.S. customers an onshore option for trading these contracts.

The company is in discussions with regulators about expanding perpetual futures into non-crypto assets, which would place Kalshi in direct competition with traditional commodity and equity derivatives venues. Kalshi recently overtook a rival, Polymarket, in monthly taker volume; that rival has also announced plans to offer U.S. perpetual futures.

Legal challenges are unfolding alongside the product rollout. Kalshi filed suit against the state of Minnesota to block a felony ban on prediction markets, and the CFTC has asserted its jurisdiction in a related case in Massachusetts. The results of those cases could affect Kalshi’s ability to introduce more products and enter new markets.

The company confirmed the $5.5 billion figure and said it will continue talks with regulators and keep the fee incentives used during the launch to support market depth while it pursues broader product expansion.