Kalshi Targets Equity Index Markets with Proposed Launch of Perpetual Futures

Kalshi logo is seen in this illustration taken, August 3, 2026.

Dado Ruvic | Reuters

In a regulatory filing submitted Tuesday, prediction market platform Kalshi disclosed its intention to introduce perpetual futures linked to equity indexes.

This submission to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) represents the company’s latest effort to diversify beyond its original prediction market offerings. Kalshi first gained authorization for cryptocurrency-linked perpetual futures in late May.

Perpetual futures, often called “perps,” are a type of futures contract that lacks an expiration date. Unlike traditional futures, traders do not need to hold the underlying asset; instead, the contracts continuously track the asset’s price through a system of funding payments that maintain alignment with the market price.

According to the filing, Kalshi’s proposed “US500” perp would track the MerQube U.S. Large Cap Index, which monitors the 500 largest companies based in and listed in the United States.

Tarek Mansour, co-founder and CEO of Kalshi speaks during CNBC’s Squawk Box on June 24, 2026.

CNBC

Last month, Kalshi submitted a proposal to the CFTC to launch perps for precious metals, such as silver and gold. Its Tuesday filings also included a request for regulatory approval for perpetual futures tied to copper.

Before receiving recent regulatory approval, perpetual futures were an asset class primarily available through offshore markets. Kalshi noted that the global volume for perps exceeded $90 trillion in 2025. Following the launch of its own perpetual futures, the company’s notional volume surpassed $1 billion within just one week, according to previous CNBC reports.

Shares of major exchanges such as CME Group and CBOE Global Markets declined in early June following the approval of domestic perps. This decline reflected investor concerns regarding increased competition for traditional futures contract providers. Notably, CME has filed a lawsuit against the CFTC in federal court challenging the approval of the asset.

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CBOE Global Markets and CME Group 3 month.

During a June launch event for its perp products, Kalshi expressed its ambition to evolve into a comprehensive, multi-asset financial exchange.

“This is the next step towards building the largest exchange on the planet,” stated Kalshi engineer Lior Hirschfeld during the presentation.

Despite these ambitions, shares of established exchanges saw gains in early trading on Tuesday. CME rose by 2%, while CBOE increased by 0.8%.

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