Kalshi plans to seek U.S. approval for roughly 60 perpetual futures tied to stocks and ETFs, potentially bringing 24/7 crypto-style trading to major equities.
Key Points:
- Kalshi wants to offer perpetual futures tied to about 60 stocks and ETFs, including Tesla, Apple and Nvidia.
- The contracts could trade around the clock without expiration dates, unlike conventional futures.
- Citadel Securities says equity-linked perps outside SEC oversight could create a “parallel shadow market.”
Kalshi Stock Perps
The prediction-market operator plans to seek regulatory approval for perpetual futures linked to individual stocks and exchange-traded funds, including Tesla, Apple and Nvidia, The Wall Street Journal reported. If approved, they would become the first regulated single-stock perpetual futures offered in the U.S.
Perpetual futures allow traders to take leveraged positions on whether an asset will rise or fall without an expiration date. Funding payments between traders help keep the contract near the price of the underlying asset.
A Tesla perp, for example, could continue trading overnight and during weekends when Nasdaq is closed, providing a market price before conventional shares reopen. That structure has become common in crypto, where perpetual futures trade continuously across platforms such as Hyperliquid.
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Citadel Regulation Warning
Citadel Securities has challenged the regulatory approach, telling the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission that derivatives tied to public companies should remain under SEC oversight. The firm warned that moving them elsewhere could create a “parallel shadow market” separated from surveillance systems covering U.S. stocks and options.
The concern centers on how continuous perps would interact with a stock market that closes and can halt individual securities.
Someone holding undisclosed corporate information could theoretically trade an equity perp while the underlying shares are closed, while company news could move a perp during a trading halt.
Kalshi’s proposal follows an earlier regulatory breakthrough for crypto derivatives. In May, the CFTC approved its perpetual contract tied to Bitcoin (BTC), classifying the product as a futures contract while cautioning that other asset classes would require individual review.
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