CFTC Greenlights Bitcoin Perpetual Futures on Kalshi

The CFTC issued a formal order in July 2025 authorising Kalshi to list perpetual futures contracts in the United States, with Bitcoin price contracts set to launch first, according to Decrypt.

Why It Matters

Perpetual futures — contracts with no expiration date — are a dominant instrument in offshore crypto derivatives markets, where platforms like Binance process hundreds of billions in monthly volume. Bringing them onto a CFTC-regulated venue hands U.S. retail and institutional traders a legally compliant alternative for the first time. For prediction market participants specifically, this blurs the line between event contracts and derivatives trading, expanding Kalshi's product surface well beyond binary yes/no outcomes. The move also signals that U.S. regulators are willing to approve complex derivative structures on crypto assets under the right compliance framework — a meaningful shift in posture. Gambling always carries risk; derivatives trading amplifies it through leverage.

Context

As of July 2025, Kalshi holds a CFTC-registered Designated Contract Market (DCM) licence, which it secured after a multi-year legal battle with the regulator over political event contracts. That court victory in 2024 established Kalshi's right to offer contracts regulators had previously deemed contrary to public interest. Perpetual futures on Bitcoin represent the platform's most direct step into territory traditionally dominated by unregulated offshore exchanges.

What's Next

Kalshi has not publicly confirmed which assets or contract types follow Bitcoin perpetuals, but the CFTC order's framework could accommodate additional crypto underlyings. Competing DCMs, including the CME Group, will likely face pressure to respond with their own perpetual product filings.