Kalshi Crypto Perpetual Futures Volume Tops $1 Billion in First Week

Trading volume in crypto perpetual futures on US prediction-market platform Kalshi topped $1 billion in the first week after launch, a sign competition in the US market for the products is starting to intensify.

Walter Bloomberg reported on June 9 that Kalshi said cumulative trading volume in its crypto perpetual futures product had surpassed $1 billion within a week of its debut.

Volume reached $100 million in the first 24 hours after launch.

Perpetual futures are derivatives that allow investors to bet on asset-price moves without an expiration date. The global market for the products is estimated at about $90 trillion.

Kalshi said investor demand surged after it recently received approval from US regulators to launch the product.

More than 1 million people have joined the waitlist, the company said.

Kalshi described the perpetual futures product as the fastest-growing launch in its history.

Competition is expected to intensify further as major exchanges including Coinbase and Kraken also push to expand in the perpetual futures market amid a shift in the regulatory stance of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.