Kalshi is moving to list single-stock perpetual futures, contracts with no expiration, Mansour said. The company plans to seek clearance as early as next week for products linked to major US names like Tesla Inc., Apple Inc. and Nvidia Corp. Each contract would cover 100 shares and, unlike crypto perpetuals that operate around the clock, would run 23 hours a day on weekdays, matching the schedule used by traditional US exchanges. The minimum margin requirement would equal 15% of the shares' real-time market value.
Mansour argues the design keeps leverage in line with regulated futures. He describes the perps as a cheaper way to mirror stock exposure compared with a standard futures contract, with the same or lower leverage and without funding charges. "We are not extending more leverage." He added, "It's about time that these products come to the US, under a regulated umbrella with the right set of guardrails and customer protection."
Kalshi intends to have the contracts treated as a security futures product, with joint supervision by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mansour said. An SEC representative declined to comment. A CFTC spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
This is a big swing by a newer venue looking to compete with the established market setup. Perpetual futures, often called perps, are leveraged contracts without an end date that have grown in popularity, especially for trading cryptocurrencies and commodities. US regulators and industry leaders have warned that embedded leverage can magnify risk. Before the CFTC began allowing them, most perps were available offshore without US oversight.
Kalshi was among the first US platforms to pursue approval for perps, starting with crypto-linked versions. The environment for crypto under President Donald Trump has made the path smoother for Kalshi. In May, the CFTC cleared Kalshi to list Bitcoin perps, and this week broadened that permission to include gold, silver and platinum.
Innovations in finance create possibilities, so protecting and growing your money matters. Join Briefs Finance CEO Jaspreet Singh on September 29th for a FREE live investor workshop, How to Profit From A Dollar That's Losing its Value, where he shows how we're spotting investment opportunities as the dollar falls. Save your spot.
Not everyone is on board. The CFTC moved to dismiss the case earlier this month. A CME representative declined to comment.
Kalshi plans to start with equity-linked perps for companies with market values of at least $100 billion and average daily volume of $450 million, Mansour said. He added that exchange-traded funds are on the roadmap. The company is also looking at commodity-linked perps, including agriculture, though Mansour said there is no immediate timeline. "The approach for those will be to engage with the community and constituencies first before launching those products." Earlier this month, a person familiar with the matter said Kalshi intends to seek approval for an oil perp linked to the West Texas Intermediate benchmark.
Perps were mostly a crypto thing for a while, but they gained broader traction during the Iran war, when they were among the few ways for retail traders to access oil exposure at times when conventional futures venues were shut.
If regulators sign off, single-stock perps could offer another path to stock exposure without rolling contracts, with clear parameters: a 100-share unit, nearly all-day weekday trading, and margin based on live stock values. The flip side is familiar to anyone who has used leverage: gains and losses scale quickly. And the timeline depends on two-agency oversight and an ongoing legal fight. It is another signal that retail-friendly derivatives keep edging further into the mainstream.
Fresh investment options invite curiosity, and a clear plan keeps your savings on track. Our CEO Jaspreet Singh is hosting a FREE live investor workshop, How to Profit From A Dollar That's Losing its Value, on September 29th. Sign up free to join him live.
