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U.S. regulated perpetual futures draw volume, but Wall Street stays sidelined

U.S. regulated perpetual futures draw volume, but Wall Street stays sidelined

Kalshi surpassed $1 billion within a week of launch, while Coinbase and Kalshi won U.S. approvals as banks wait for deeper liquidity, clearer rules and stronger market infrastructure.

Fact Check
Multiple authoritative sources confirm the core claims. CNBC reports Kalshi's perpetual futures crossed $1 billion in trading volume within a week of launch, citing CEO Tarek Mansour. Both CNBC and CoinDesk confirm the CFTC granted first regulated perpetual futures approvals to both Kalshi and Coinbase on May 29, 2026, corroborated by WSJ. The CoinDesk feature article supports the framing that big banks are staying sidelined, awaiting deeper liquidity, clearer rules and stronger market infrastructure. The only minor discrepancy is the claim's phrase 'June launch': the CFTC approval was May 29 and the $1B milestone was reported June 9, so the launch straddled late May/early June — a slight imprecision that does not undermine the substantive claim.
Summary

Perpetual futures, contracts with no expiry date, have entered the regulated U.S. market, but major Wall Street institutions are still holding back despite early trading momentum and new approvals. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved Kalshi’s regulated perpetual futures product in May, and Coinbase also received approval to list regulated perpetual futures in the United States. Kalshi topped $1 billion in trading volume within a week of launch and has since sought approval to expand the format to gold and silver. The contracts are a central part of global crypto trading, with Bank of America estimating annual perpetual futures volume at about $90 trillion. Industry participants said most large financial institutions remain in a wait-and-see phase as they assess whether market liquidity, regulatory clarity and infrastructure are mature enough, while also weighing capital requirements, customer-protection obligations and reputational risk. Potential uses extend beyond speculation, including weekend hedging and price discovery, but thin liquidity, collateral frictions and an emerging regulatory dispute over whether some contracts should be treated as futures or swaps are still limiting broader institutional adoption.

Terms & Concepts
  • perpetual futures: Futures-like contracts that do not expire and rely on periodic funding payments to keep prices aligned with the underlying asset.
  • funding payments: Periodic payments between market participants used to keep a perpetual contract's price close to the underlying asset.
  • swaps: A type of derivatives contract whose regulatory treatment differs from futures, affecting margin, registration and market participation rules.