Kalshi launches first US stock index perpetual future

Kalshi opened trading on a cash-settled perpetual future referencing the MerQube US Large Cap Index on Tuesday, after receiving CFTC approval less than two months after submitting the contract for review.

The product gives US clients leveraged long or short exposure to the 500 largest US-listed companies by float-adjusted market capitalisation, with no fixed expiry date. Traders can hold positions without the quarterly rollovers required by conventional dated index futures. Available leverage stood at 15.3 times at launch. The contract recorded $556,000 in 24-hour volume and $219,600 in open interest in its first hours of trading.

The move extends Kalshi's perpetual futures range, which previously covered cryptocurrencies and metals, into equities for the first time on a US national exchange. Trades are centrally cleared through Kalshi Klear under a risk-based margin model. Fractional positions as small as one ten-thousandth of a contract are permitted.

The launch arrives as Kalshi contests state-level enforcement actions in multiple jurisdictions. Approval of the US500 contract by the CFTC, the same agency whose authority over Kalshi's prediction market products is disputed in courts across several states, reinforces the company's argument that it operates within federal derivatives law.