Kalshi’s Bitcoin perpetual futures, approved by the CFTC on May 29 and launched on June 3, have generated more than $5.5 billion in reported activity during their first two weeks. The new product is described as the first CFTC-approved spot Bitcoin perpetual futures contract, offering U.S. institutions regulated, onshore access to a market traditionally dominated by offshore venues. The contracts provide roughly 5.9x to 6.1x leverage, have no expiration date, settle funding rates every eight hours and can automatically liquidate positions when margin becomes insufficient. Bitcoin volatility recently exposed those risks: $529 million in positions, including $478 million in leveraged longs, were liquidated in one hour on Aug. 22, followed by another $84 million in crypto long liquidations on Aug. 23. Traders have also pointed to a large Bitcoin long-liquidation pool between $62,000 and $67,000, while one trader estimated $2.7 billion to $3.5 billion in short liquidations over a 24-hour period. Better Markets securities policy director Benjamin Schiffrin said perpetual futures are high-risk crypto products for retail traders and criticized the CFTC for approving Kalshi’s contracts without additional investor protections. CME Group is challenging the approval, setting up a contest between Kalshi’s regulated, retail-accessible product and the established U.S. futures venue.