TLDR Kalshi launched single-stock perpetual futures on more than 50 NYSE and Nasdaq stocks on Nov. 5. The company reported more than $300 million in volume within hours, a figure that is not audited. SpaceX contracts led trading with about $88 million in 24-hour volume. Cboe and Citadel Securities sued, saying daily funding payments make the contracts swaps. Kalshi is also fighting gambling-related actions in more than 20 states.
A daily cash payment made at 4:00 p.m. ET is at the center of a new legal fight over Kalshi’s latest product. The prediction market operator launched single-stock perpetual futures on Nov. 5. Rival firms now say that payment makes the contracts swaps, not futures.
Kalshi listed perps on more than 50 stocks traded on the NYSE and Nasdaq. The company said the contracts drew more than $300 million in volume within hours of a quiet launch. That figure is self-reported and has not been audited.
Contracts tied to SpaceX led early trading with about $88 million in 24-hour volume. That equals nearly 30% of Kalshi’s headline launch number, though the two figures cover different time windows.
Other names on the list include Palantir, Meta, Nvidia and McDonald’s. Barchart described the rollout as the most direct challenge yet from prediction markets to established equity-derivatives firms.
How the Daily Payment Works
A perpetual future is a contract that never expires. To keep its price close to the real stock, traders on one side pay traders on the other side at set times. This transfer is called a funding payment.
On Kalshi, the funding payment happens once a day at 4:00 p.m. ET. Each contract represents 0.02 shares and settles in cash, so no actual stock changes hands.
Leverage on the product is capped near 5x. Offshore platforms commonly offer