[Kalshi Applies to Launch U.S. Stock Index Perpetual Futures, Further Expanding into Traditional Exchange Markets] BlockBeats News, August 18: Prediction market platform Kalshi has submitted regulatory filings to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), seeking approval to launch perpetual futures tied to stock indices, marking a further expansion from prediction markets into the traditional financial derivatives sector. According to the filings, the proposed 'US500' perpetual futures by Kalshi will track the MerQube U.S. Large-Cap Index, which covers 500 major companies listed in the United States. Perpetual futures have no expiration date, allowing traders to hold positions without owning the underlying asset, with contracts continuously tracking the underlying price through a funding rate mechanism. At the end of May this year, Kalshi received approval to launch cryptocurrency perpetual futures, which officially went live in June. The company subsequently applied to introduce perpetual futures for precious metals such as gold and silver, and is now further seeking approval for copper and stock index perpetual futures. Kalshi stated that the global trading volume of perpetual futures is expected to exceed $90 trillion by 2025, and its own products surpassed $1 billion in nominal trading volume within a week of launch. Kalshi's entry into the perpetual futures market has raised concerns among traditional exchanges. CME Group and Cboe Global Markets previously faced stock price pressure due to U.S. approval of domestic perpetual futures, with CME even filing a lawsuit in federal court over related regulatory approvals. As of the time of writing, CME shares are up approximately 1.26%, while Cboe shares are up about 0.12%. [Original Link]