How Kalshi Brought Perpetual Futures to America

Summary

John Wang, Head of Crypto at Kalshi, discusses the company's launch of the first CFTC-regulated Bitcoin and Ethereum perpetual futures in the US, the regulatory framework, competition with offshore exchanges like Hyperliquid, and Kalshi's plans to expand to new asset classes and institutional traders.

• Kalshi brought the first US-regulated crypto perpetual futures onshore, starting with Bitcoin and Ethereum and expanding to other major coins.
• The offshore perpetuals market reached $90 trillion in volume in 2025, highlighting massive demand for such derivatives.
• Leverage limits vary by asset based on volatility and liquidity models reviewed by the CFTC, with a guarantee fund mitigating extreme liquidation risks.
• CME Group's CEO criticized crypto perpetuals as risky, but Wang argues they fit within the same regulatory framework as traditional futures with lower leverage.
• Kalshi is integrating with FCMs and prime brokers to onboard institutional traders, leveraging existing traditional finance infrastructure.
• Future plans include adding perpetuals on other asset classes like stocks, indices, and commodities, subject to CFTC filings.
• Kalshi also runs large prediction markets and is tokenizing event contracts on Solana, but the core focus is scaling the perpetual futures product.