Kalshi is preparing to seek U.S. regulatory approval for about 60 perpetual futures linked to individual stocks and exchange-traded funds, potentially bringing a major crypto trading product into traditional financial markets.
The prediction-market platform plans to offer perpetual contracts tied to companies such as Tesla, Apple and Nvidia. The products could trade 24 hours a day, allowing investors to take positions even when the underlying stock markets are closed.
If approved, the contracts would become the first regulated perpetual futures tied to individual U.S. stocks.
Perpetual futures, or perps, allow traders to speculate on an asset’s price without an expiration date. Traders can take long or short positions, often using leverage, while periodic funding payments help keep the contract’s price aligned with the underlying asset.
Perps have become one of crypto’s biggest trading products since BitMEX introduced them in 2016. Platforms such as Hyperliquid now offer leveraged perpetual contracts on bitcoin and hundreds of other tokens around the clock.
A Tesla perpetual, for example, could continue trading overnight and during weekends even when Tesla shares are not trading on Nasdaq. That could provide a continuous market-based indication of sentiment toward the company outside regular stock-market hours.
The proposal also raises a regulatory question over which U.S. agency should oversee the products. Regulators must determine whether stock-linked perps should fall under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as futures or remain under the Securities and Exchange Commission because they are tied to securities.
Kalshi received CFTC approval in May for a bitcoin perpetual contract. The agency classified the product as a futures contract but said the structure may not be suitable for every asset class. It also indicated that perps tied to other types of assets would require individual review.
Citadel Securities has argued that stock-linked perpetuals should remain under SEC supervision. In a letter sent Thursday to the SEC and CFTC, the trading firm said contracts tied to U.S. public companies should be regulated alongside the underlying stocks.
Citadel warned that placing these products under a separate regulatory framework could create a “parallel shadow market” disconnected from the surveillance systems used across U.S. equities and options.
The firm pointed to potential risks involving companies such as Tesla and Nvidia. An individual with confidential earnings information, for example, could potentially trade a perpetual contract while the stock market is closed. A company could also release significant news during a trading halt while its perpetual contract continues to move.
Citadel said SEC oversight currently links activity across stocks, options and related markets, helping regulators identify potential insider trading and attempts to influence prices across different markets.
It also noted that rules governing trading halts, order handling and market access may not automatically apply if stock-linked perps operate under a separate regulatory regime.
The debate reflects the growing intersection between crypto-style trading and traditional finance. While crypto markets have operated with leveraged perpetual contracts around the clock for years, regulators now face the challenge of adapting that model to equities markets that still operate within fixed trading hours.
