Kalshi crypto perpetual futures exceed $1B in first week

Kalshi, a regulated prediction market and derivatives platform, has seen its newly launched cryptocurrency perpetual futures contracts surpass $1 billion in notional trading volume within their first week of availability in the United States. The company, which received approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on May 29, 2026, officially launched trading on June 3, initially offering contracts tied to Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The launch saw more than $100 million in volume in the first 24 hours, with demand remaining strong throughout the week. The rapid growth marks the fastest product launch in Kalshi's history. A company spokesperson noted that a waitlist for access to the perpetual futures had at one point exceeded one million people, indicating significant pent-up domestic demand for such a product.

Perpetual futures, or "perps," are derivative contracts with no expiration date, allowing traders to speculate on the price of an asset using leverage without owning the underlying cryptocurrency. While these instruments are popular globally, with annual volumes exceeding $90 trillion according to some estimates, they had not been available on a regulated U.S....