Kalshi has introduced BTCPERP, the first Bitcoin perpetual futures contract cleared and listed under direct oversight of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The product opens a new door for American traders, bringing a market structure long dominated by offshore platforms into a regulated onshore environment.
The perpetual contract is cash-settled in U.S. dollars, has no expiration date, and tracks Bitcoin’s spot price continuously. It uses a funding-rate mechanism that recalculates every eight hours to keep the contract price aligned with global spot indexes. Kalshi also offers 24/7 trading, clearing, and settlement—a model that prompted CFTC staff to issue advisories on weekend and overnight risk management.
The CFTC’s approval, announced alongside a no-action letter for Cboe Digital Exchange, marks the first time a designated contract market has listed Bitcoin perpetual futures. The move comes amid broader U.S. digital asset policy activity, including a Federal Reserve proposal for nonbank payment access to Fed accounts and FDIC standards for stablecoin issuers.
Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour framed the launch as a shift from snapshot prediction markets to a continuous film of investor conviction. The firm is building its own domestic order books and plans to add compliant stablecoin collateral later this fiscal quarter. It has also filed for perpetuals on a dozen more digital currencies, intensifying competition with Coinbase, which has its own plans to connect U.S. clients to Deribit’s global liquidity.
For traders, the debut of CFTC-regulated perps signals a more institutional, less offshore era for Ethereum and crypto leverage in the United States.
