The U.S. financial market is entering an unusual phase in which prediction markets, cryptocurrency derivatives and traditional equities are increasingly converging.
Two developments involving Kalshi and Bitwise illustrate this transformation from opposite directions: Kalshi is seeking to expand perpetual futures into individual U.S. stocks, while Bitwise is preparing to close its Dogecoin exchange-traded fund less than a year after launch.
Together, they reveal both the appetite for innovative financial products and the unforgiving discipline of investor demand.
Kalshi, the prediction-market operator, plans to seek U.S. regulatory approval for perpetual futures tied to individual stocks and exchange-traded funds.
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The proposed products could include major companies such as Tesla, Apple and Nvidia, with approximately 60 contracts reportedly under consideration. If approved, they would represent the first regulated single-stock perpetual futures in the United States.
Perpetual futures are particularly important because they do not have conventional expiration dates. Traders can maintain positions continuously while using leverage, with funding mechanisms helping keep contract prices aligned with underlying assets.
Kalshi has already entered the perpetual-futures market through crypto products and recently expanded into gold and silver, building the infrastructure for a broader derivatives strategy.
The proposed stock perps could therefore represent a major bridge between the crypto-native trading culture and Wall Street. Markets that traditionally operate during defined exchange hours could become accessible through a more continuous trading model.
For traders, that could mean greater flexibility and faster responses to global events. For the industry, however, the proposal raises difficult questions around leverage, market manipulation, insider trading and investor protection.
The regulatory structure will be especially important. Kalshi is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a designated contract market, but stock-linked perpetual products create questions that touch both derivatives and securities regulation.
Kalshi has indicated that it wants the products regulated under an appropriate framework involving U.S. regulators.
At the same time, Bitwise is moving in the opposite direction with its Dogecoin ETF. The asset manager announced that it will liquidate the Bitwise Dogecoin ETF, ticker BWOW, with trading expected to end on October 14, 2026.
Remaining shareholders are expected to receive cash based on the fund’s October 21 net asset value, with distribution around October 22. The decision comes roughly ten months after BWOW launched in November 2025.
The fund reportedly struggled to attract sustained investor demand, with assets falling to well below $1 million by September. Its weak activity contrasts sharply with the broader growth of crypto investment products and demonstrates that regulatory approval alone does not guarantee a viable ETF market.
The two stories therefore present a striking lesson. Kalshi is betting that investors want more sophisticated, continuous and leveraged exposure to traditional assets. Bitwise’s Dogecoin closure shows that investors can quickly reject products that fail to achieve sufficient liquidity, scale or relevance.
For the broader financial system, this is more than a story about two companies. It reflects a market increasingly defined by experimentation. Prediction markets are evolving into financial infrastructure, while crypto-inspired derivatives are moving toward traditional assets.
At the same time, capital remains selective. Innovation can open the door, but liquidity, regulation, risk management and genuine investor demand ultimately determine which products survive.