Kalshi Eyes Perpetual Futures Expansion as Polymarket Moves First

Kalshi is preparing to expand into crypto trading, beginning with perpetual futures. The move would position the CFTC-regulated prediction markets platform in direct competition with exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, and Hyperliquid, while also escalating its rivalry with Polymarket.

The reported plans center on crypto perpetual futures, a product that allows traders to take leveraged positions without an expiration date. These instruments have become one of the most widely traded products in crypto markets, but have historically remained limited for U.S. users due to regulatory constraints.

A Regulatory Window Opens

Kalshi’s expansion comes as regulatory sentiment in the United States begins to shift. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael Selig said last month that the agency intends to allow perpetual futures products domestically, opening the door for licensed platforms to enter the market.

Kalshi appears structurally positioned to move quickly. The company already operates under a set of CFTC licenses and recently secured approval to offer margin trading, a key requirement for supporting perpetual futures.

If launched, the product would mark one of the first regulated attempts to bring crypto perps onshore in the U.S., a market currently dominated by offshore platforms.

From Prediction Markets to Full Trading Stack

The expansion reflects a broader shift in how prediction market platforms are evolving. Kalshi, alongside Polymarket, has been at the forefront of a category that is rapidly scaling in both volume and product complexity.

Estimates from Bernstein suggest prediction market volumes could grow from roughly $51 billion in 2025 to $1 trillion by 2030, driven by increasing retail participation and institutional interest.

Kalshi itself has seen significant momentum, reportedly raising more than $1 billion at a $22 billion valuation earlier this year. The company processes tens of billions in annualized trading volume, placing it among the largest players in the emerging prediction market sector.

Polymarket Moves First

Just hours after reports of Kalshi’s crypto ambitions surfaced, Polymarket announced its own perpetual futures product.

The new offering allows users to go long or short on prediction market outcomes continuously, without waiting for contracts to settle. The platform framed the launch as a way to trade “the markets you know 24/7,” extending its core product into a more traditional derivatives format.

The timing appears deliberate. Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour had last week teased a new product, codenamed “Timeless,” with a planned launch date of April 27.

A Converging Market

The rapid rollout of perpetual futures by both platforms highlights a convergence of crypto's mega firms, with platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi, exchanges like Coinbase and Binance, and DeFi-native superapps like Jupiter, that are increasingly resembling one another in both product design and user experience.

While Kalshi looks to capture crypto trading market share, traditional exchanges are moving in the opposite direction. Coinbase, for example, has already partnered with Kalshi to explore prediction market integrations.

The result is a competitive landscape where boundaries between trading categories are starting to blur, and major platforms are increasingly looking the same as they race to add every feature possible for users.