TLDR
- Kalshi’s perpetual futures hit $5.5 billion in trading volume within two weeks of launch
- The CFTC approved Kalshi’s bitcoin-linked perpetual futures contract (BTCPERP) on May 29, 2026
- Kalshi now lists 11 crypto perpetual contracts and plans to expand beyond crypto
- Kalshi partnered with StarCompliance to let employers monitor employee trades in real-time
- The compliance move is part of Kalshi’s push to attract major financial institutions
Prediction market platform Kalshi had a busy few weeks. The company launched regulated perpetual futures, hit $5.5 billion in trading volume, and struck a new compliance deal — all aimed at winning over Wall Street.
Kalshi’s Futures Take Off
The CFTC approved Kalshi’s spot bitcoin-linked perpetual futures contract, called BTCPERP, on May 29, 2026. The contract went live on June 3.
Within seven days, notional volume topped $1 billion. By the end of the second week, it had crossed $5.5 billion.
Kalshi currently offers 11 perpetual contracts, all tied to crypto tokens. Trading fees were waived during the initial launch window to build liquidity.
Perpetual futures are a type of derivative with no expiry date. Instead, they use a periodic funding rate to keep the price in line with the underlying asset.
These contracts are already among the most popular products in crypto markets. But until now, U.S. traders had to go offshore to access them.
Kalshi’s version is different — it’s regulated and cleared in the United States, which the CFTC called a historic step.
The platform said it is in talks with regulators about expanding perpetual futures to other asset classes beyond crypto. That would put Kalshi in direct competition with established commodity and equity derivatives markets.
Kalshi also recently overtook rival Polymarket in monthly taker volume. Polymarket has announced its own U.S. perpetual futures plans.
Employer Monitoring Comes to Prediction Markets
On the compliance side, Kalshi announced a partnership with StarCompliance, a provider that helps financial firms track employee trading.
EXCLUSIVE: Kalshi is partnering with StarCompliance for an integration that allows employers to see employee prediction market trades in real-time.
StarCompliance is a go-to provider for financial firms looking to monitor employee trading in equities and derivatives markets, and… pic.twitter.com/b3UaXGRKa8
— Nick Devor (@nickdevor_) June 17, 2026
Employees at firms using StarCompliance will link their Kalshi accounts to the system. The software monitors trades in real-time and can flag suspicious activity.
The goal is to stop employees from using prediction markets to profit from material nonpublic information — a concern that has grown as these platforms have expanded.
StarCompliance’s chief product officer Kelvin Dickenson said the system could eventually require employees to pre-clear trades before placing them.
Kalshi’s VP of business development Max Crowley said the idea came from a New York-based hedge fund that wanted to trade on Kalshi but couldn’t because there was no StarCompliance integration.
Last week, Kalshi also started asking traders to disclose their employer when placing trades on markets with higher insider trading risk.
JPMorgan has told employees to think carefully before trading on prediction markets in the financial sector. The credit-ratings firm KBRA has banned employees from using prediction markets entirely.
Kalshi is also navigating legal battles. It recently sued Minnesota to block a felony ban on prediction markets. The CFTC is defending its jurisdiction in a separate Massachusetts case.
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