Overview
- Kalshi made the US 500 perpetual available for trading on Tuesday, offering a no‑expiry, cash‑settled contract that tracks the MerQube US Large Cap Index and gives leveraged long or short exposure to 500 large U.S. companies.
- The contract uses periodic funding‑rate payments between longs and shorts to keep its price aligned with the index and permits fractional positions and leverage reported near 15x.
- Market mechanics reported include a $1 per index point multiplier, risk‑based initial and maintenance margining, and central clearing through Kalshi Klear.
- Kalshi filed with the CFTC in August but public accounts differ on whether formal CFTC approval was granted, and a broader legal dispute over how perpetuals should be classified and possible SEC oversight for equity‑linked products remain unresolved.
- The launch positions Kalshi against offshore venues that already offer equity perps and raises consumer‑protection questions about round‑the‑clock leveraged trading, synthetic exposure that excludes dividends or voting rights, and potential surveillance gaps; the firm is also preparing a WTI crude perpetual and has tested single‑stock structures that could add further regulatory complexity.