Kalshi expands into stock market derivatives with US 500 perpetual

Kalshi has launched a perpetual futures contract tied to the US stock market, expanding its product lineup as the prediction market operator pushes further into traditional financial markets.

Today we launched the first stock index perpetual future in America.

You can now trade a perp on the US 500, an index of America’s largest companies weighted by market cap.

Stock index perps let you trade the broader market with greater capital efficiency and make it easier to… pic.twitter.com/8I1u91EQrK

— Kalshi (@Kalshi) October 6, 2026

The contract tracks Kalshi’s US 500 index, which the company said covers 500 of the largest US companies. Traders can take leveraged long or short positions without the contract having a fixed expiration date.

Unlike conventional futures, perpetual futures do not expire and use periodic funding payments between long and short traders to help keep the contract’s price aligned with the underlying index.

Kalshi filed with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in August to offer the product.

“Stock market exposure is the next step towards Kalshi becoming a full-service financial exchange, and perps are the best way for our traders to get this exposure,” CEO Tarek Mansour said in a statement.

The launch marks another step in Kalshi’s expansion beyond the event contracts that built its business, including markets tied to elections, sports and other real-world outcomes.

The company has also been moving into more conventional derivatives markets. Reuters reported last month that Kalshi is preparing to file with US regulators for a perpetual contract tracking West Texas Intermediate crude oil.

The expansion puts Kalshi more directly into competition with traditional exchange operators as it builds products spanning prediction markets and financial derivatives.