Polymarket launches perps
- Polymarket started trading heavily‑leveraged perpetual futures, moving beyond event betting into derivatives formats. - CNBC reported the new perpetual contracts, and Cointribune says Kalshi claims an $11bn valuation with large volumes. - The shift raises questions about funding, liquidation and contract rules, while Illinois barred state employees from using insider information in prediction markets ( ).
Polymarket said on April 21 that it is adding perpetual futures, a leveraged contract that does not expire, to a platform best known for event bets. (cnbc.com) Perpetual futures, often called perps, let traders keep a position open as long as they post enough collateral, instead of settling on a fixed date. CNBC reported Polymarket had not specified whether its product would include crypto perps, even as it teased the launch on Tuesday. (cnbc.com) Cointribune reported Polymarket’s first lineup includes bitcoin, gold, silver and Nvidia with leverage of up to 10 times and 24/7 trading. The same report said Kalshi plans its own crypto perps launch on April 27 in New York under the name “Timeless.” (cointribune.com) That would push both companies beyond yes-or-no event markets and into the larger business of directional trading, where customers bet on whether an asset rises or falls. CNBC said the move puts Kalshi, and potentially Polymarket, into more direct competition with Coinbase, Robinhood and Kraken, which have all added prediction markets in the past year. (cnbc.com) The derivatives market they are chasing is much bigger than prediction contracts. CNBC cited CoinGecko data showing centralized crypto exchanges handled $86.2 trillion in annual perpetual futures volume in 2025, up 47% from the prior year. (cnbc.com) Polymarket had already started moving toward price-based financial products this month. On April 2, it introduced contracts tied to stocks, commodities and exchange-traded funds, with outcomes settled automatically from Pyth Network price feeds rather than a manual market resolution process. (cointelegraph.com) The expansion is landing as prediction markets face more scrutiny in Washington and state capitals. CNBC reported on April 15 that Kalshi and Polymarket spent nearly $1 million on federal lobbying in 2025 as lawmakers raised questions about insider trading and bets tied to war and death. (cnbc.com) Illinois moved first this week. Gov. JB Pritzker signed an executive order on April 21 barring state employees, officers, appointees and board members from using nonpublic information gained through government work to place prediction-market bets or help others do so. (capitolnewsillinois.com) Kalshi has tried to draw a line between its U.S.-regulated business and Polymarket’s offshore model. Kalshi communications head Elisabeth Diana told CNBC there had been “a lot of conflation” between the two companies, while Polymarket deputy chief legal officer Olivia Chalos said the company was focused on “building the best product” and working with regulators and law enforcement. (cnbc.com) The next test is whether prediction-market users want more than headline wagers. If they do, Polymarket’s move turns a site built around elections and breaking news into one more venue for round-the-clock leveraged trading. (cnbc.com)
