TL;DR
Kalshi is set to launch crypto trading with perpetual futures, while Polymarket will soon offer perpetual futures trading with leverage. Both platforms will operate under the CFTC’s framework for Designated Contract Markets.
In brief
- Kalshi plans to roll out crypto trading to users, a move expected to provide traders with access to perpetual futures, per a report.
- Meanwhile, Polymarket announced that perpetual futures trading is coming to its platform, enabling users to speculate using leverage.
- Polymarket and Kalshi can provide access to futures and options under the CFTC’s framework for Designated Contract Markets.
Polymarket announced on Tuesday that users will soon be able to trade perpetual futures on its platform, while chief rival Kalshi reportedly eyes a similar push into the derivatives space.
In an X post, Polymarket published a video indicating that users will be able to speculate on the price of various assets with at least 10x leverage, including real-world assets like gold and silver, stocks of companies like Nvidia and Coinbase, and digital assets like Bitcoin.
Not long before, The Information reported that Kalshi plans to support perpetual futures on its platform, a move that would give U.S. customers access to derivative contracts that don’t feature an expiration date and use a so-called funding rate to trade around the clock.
For the prediction-market realm’s leading firms, an entry into the perpetual futures space would extend the platforms’ functionality beyond relatively basic bets on topics such as politics, finance, and sports—underscoring their respective efforts to expand their business models.
We price the future.
Now you can lever it.
Perps are coming to Polymarket.
Sign up for early access 👇 pic.twitter.com/j3PRHhxv8N
— Polymarket (@Polymarket) April 21, 2026
Polymarket and Kalshi are already able to provide access to futures and options under the CFTC’s framework for so-called Designated Contract Markets. It is unclear whether Polymarket plans to introduce perpetual futures on its U.S.-facing platform, its international counterpart, or both.
Decrypt has reached out to Kalshi and Polymarket for comment.
The development comes as CME Group, the world’s leading derivatives marketplace, aligns itself with other players soliciting bets. Earlier this year, CME Group that it would debut event contracts in collaboration with FanDuel, America’s leading online sportsbook.