Kalshi is seeking to take a larger role in financial derivatives by launching perpetual futures tied to U.S. equity indexes, expanding a product line that could put the prediction-market operator into more direct competition with established futures exchanges.
The company disclosed the plan in a regulatory filing with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Tuesday, proposing a perpetual contract tied to the MerQube U.S. Large Cap Index, which tracks the 500 largest U.S.-listed companies.
Kalshi’s proposed “US500” contract would allow traders to take positions on the broad U.S. stock market without owning the underlying securities and without an expiration date.
Register for the next Tekedia Mini-MBA.
Register for Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and co-invest in great global startups.
The move marks another step in Kalshi’s transformation from a platform primarily known for event-based prediction contracts into a broader derivatives marketplace.
Kalshi began expanding into perpetual futures in late May after receiving CFTC approval to offer contracts tied to cryptocurrencies. The company has since sought to add other asset classes.
Last month, Kalshi filed proposals for perpetual futures tied to precious metals including gold and silver. Its latest filings also seek approval for contracts linked to copper. Perpetual futures, commonly called “perps,” differ from conventional futures because they do not have a fixed expiration date. Traders can maintain positions indefinitely, while funding payments are used to keep the contract’s price aligned with the underlying market.
The structure has become a major part of offshore cryptocurrency trading but has historically been unavailable through U.S.-regulated markets. Kalshi has said global perpetual futures volume exceeded $90 trillion in 2025.
The company said its own perpetual futures surpassed $1 billion in notional volume within a week of launching, highlighting the potential demand for the product.
But Kalshi’s expansion could increase competitive pressure on established derivatives operators such as CME Group and Cboe Global Markets.
Shares of traditional exchange companies fell in early June after U.S. regulators approved domestic perpetual futures, as investors assessed whether the new contracts could divert trading activity from conventional futures products.
CME subsequently sued the CFTC in federal court over its approval of the asset class.
The proposed equity-index contracts could sharpen that competition because the US500 perp would give traders a way to gain leveraged exposure to a broad basket of U.S. stocks through a product that trades without an expiration date.
That creates a potentially different trading proposition from conventional index futures, although the ultimate impact will depend on contract structure, liquidity, margin requirements, and how institutional and retail traders use the products.
Kalshi has been increasingly explicit about its ambition to become a broader financial marketplace. At an event in June announcing its perpetual futures business, the company described the product as part of an effort to build a multi-asset exchange.
“This is the next step towards building the largest exchange on the planet,” Kalshi engineer Lior Hirschfeld said during the presentation.
The strategy also gives Kalshi an opportunity to diversify its revenue beyond prediction markets, where contracts allow traders to take positions on the outcomes of events.
By adding crypto, commodities and now equity indexes, Kalshi is effectively moving closer to the business model of a traditional derivatives exchange while retaining the technology and trading infrastructure it developed for prediction markets.
But Kalshi’s expansion is taking place against a growing debate over how perpetual futures should be regulated in the United States.
The CFTC’s approval of domestic perps opened a market that had largely been served by offshore platforms, but it also raised questions about whether these products should be treated differently from traditional futures.
Regulatory approval remains central to Kalshi’s strategy. The company cannot simply replicate the vast offshore perpetual-futures market; it must operate within the rules governing U.S. derivatives markets. If regulators approve the equity-index contracts, the decision could further blur the boundaries between prediction markets, crypto derivatives, and conventional financial exchanges.
The fact that Kalshi is seeking contracts across several asset classes suggests it is pursuing scale rather than treating perpetual futures as a niche addition to its prediction-market business.
Traditional exchanges showed little immediate concern on Tuesday. CME shares rose about 2%, while Cboe gained roughly 0.2%, indicating investors were not treating Kalshi’s latest filing as an immediate threat to established operators.