Kalshi Launches Single-Stock Perpetual Futures, Logs Over $300 Million in Early Volume
Kalshi, the CFTC-regulated prediction market, has rolled out single-stock perpetual futures covering more than 50 NYSE and NASDAQ-listed stocks and ETFs. Co-founder Luana Lopes Lara said trading volume exceeded $300 million, including activity during a earlier stealth rollout.
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What Kalshi Launched
Kalshi has begun offering single-stock perpetual futures on more than 50 stocks and ETFs listed on the NYSE and NASDAQ, including McDonald's, Palantir, Meta, Qualcomm and NVIDIA. The contracts have no expiration date and no rollover fees, and are settled through daily funding payments at 4:00 PM ET. Each contract represents 0.02 shares, so 50 contracts equal one full share.
According to co-founder Luana Lopes Lara, trading volume passed $300 million on the morning of November 5, 2026. That figure covers activity since a quiet stealth rollout that preceded the public announcement. Kalshi clears the contracts through its in-house entity, Kalshi Klear LLC.
Leverage and Regulatory Path
Leverage varies by stock. For some assets it starts at roughly 4.9x, which Kalshi says complies with CFTC rules; at that level, $100 of margin controls a position of about $490. Reporting on the leverage figures differs by source: The Defiant describes estimated leverage near five times on AAPL and AMZN contracts, while Crypto Briefing cites about 4.9x as the launch level for some assets. The two figures are consistent in magnitude but are not drawn from the same contract set.
Kalshi filed for the product on September 18, 2026. The CFTC's 45-day review window closed on November 2 without the agency blocking the filing, so the product was approved through the lapse of that window. Reporting on the approval mechanism is consistent across both sources, though the lapse is not the same as an affirmative endorsement from the regulator.
Legal and Competitive Context
The Defiant reports that a court challenge threatens the regulatory basis for stock perpetuals, a risk Crypto Briefing does not raise. Kalshi has faced ongoing regulatory scrutiny as it expands, and legal outcomes could shape how far and how fast the product grows.
Single-stock perpetuals have traded offshore, where annual transaction volume has exceeded $4.5 trillion according to figures cited in the Crypto Briefing report. Kalshi recently raised $1 billion at a $40 billion valuation. A widely shared post on X predicted the product will make Kalshi a rival to Robinhood; that claim is speculation and is not supported by the reporting.
The product carries specific risk features. Leverage near 4.9x means a modest adverse move can erase a meaningful share of margin quickly, and daily funding payments add a recurring cost that stock owners do not pay.
Why It Matters
For Traders
With leverage near 4.9x and daily funding payments, a modest adverse move can erase margin quickly, so position sizing and funding costs deserve close attention.
For Investors
Bringing offshore-style perpetual equity derivatives into a CFTC-regulated venue could reshape where stock leverage volume settles over the coming year, pending the court challenge.
For Builders
Perpetuals on equities with per-contract sizing of 0.02 shares and daily funding at 4:00 PM ET set a new template for tokenized or derivative equity products to benchmark against.
This article is for information only and is not financial advice. Read the full disclaimer.
