Kalshi’s US crypto perpetuals top $1B in under a week

Kalshi reported that its CFTC‑approved perpetual futures exceeded $1 billion in trading volume in under a week after the platform launched a Bitcoin perpetual on June 3. The Bitcoin perpetual produced more than $100 million in notional volume in its first 24 hours, the company reported.

Perpetual futures are contracts without an expiration date that let traders speculate on an asset’s price without owning it. Trading in these contracts is measured as notional volume, which counts leveraged positions. Periodic funding payments between long and short holders keep perpetuals aligned with spot markets.

The company said the rapid pace to $1 billion contrasts with its earlier event‑based prediction contracts, which reached $1 billion in trading volume after about 40 months. Kalshi described the perpetual product as the fastest‑growing in its history.

Kalshi has launched 13 CFTC‑approved perpetual contracts so far. Additional contracts tied to Solana, XRP and Dogecoin are pending regulatory sign‑off. The platform’s waitlist exceeded one million users prior to the public launch.

Regulatory changes in late May opened the U.S. market. On May 29 the Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved Kalshi and another U.S. firm to offer CFTC‑regulated perpetual futures, creating a domestic option to products that were previously available mainly on offshore exchanges. One approved firm gained permission through an affiliate connected to a prior offshore options platform acquisition.

Market participants estimate perpetual futures generate roughly $90 trillion in annual global volume, making them the largest segment of crypto derivatives trading. Continuous pricing, leverage and funding payments contribute to the large notional volumes reported in the sector.

Kalshi and the other approved firm are preparing their respective perpetual offerings for U.S. traders, providing a new regulated path into the global perpetuals market.