Kalshi is pushing beyond crypto — and into direct competition with Robinhood.
The regulated prediction-markets platform has asked U.S. regulators for permission to list perpetual futures tied to traditional assets, Reuters reports. The filing would initially cover gold, foreign exchange and energy contracts, with stock indices and single-name equities being considered down the line.
What’s a perpetual? Unlike standard futures, perpetual contracts never expire, so traders can hold positions indefinitely without rolling into new contracts — a feature that helped Kalshi become one of the first regulated U.S. venues to offer crypto perpetuals. Reuters says Kalshi’s crypto perpetuals have already seen roughly $16.1 billion in trading volume.
Customer demand is steering Kalshi’s roadmap, the company’s chief risk officer Udesh Jha told Reuters. Gold was singled out as a top candidate because it draws both retail and institutional interest; forex, metals and energy are also attractive due to geopolitical drivers and seasonal flows. The moves signal Kalshi’s intent to expand its regulated-derivatives footprint beyond digital assets.
The timing puts Kalshi squarely in the same ring as Robinhood. Earlier this month Robinhood — via Bitstamp — launched multi-asset perpetual futures that let eligible users trade cryptocurrencies, commodities, equity indices and FX from a single collateral pool. Industry reporting also suggests Robinhood is pursuing U.S. perpetuals approval and has been beefing up its crypto rails: Robinhood Chain reportedly generated $500 million in daily Uniswap volume within eight days of launch and has topped about $106 million in TVL on Arbitrum.
Kalshi’s expansion comes amid growing regulatory scrutiny of event-based markets. Google recently updated Chrome Web Store rules to ban extensions that enable real-money predictive wagers, effective Aug. 1, 2026 — a change that follows legal fights involving Kalshi and rivals like Polymarket over event contracts and state gambling laws.
If regulators green-light Kalshi’s proposals, the regulated perpetuals landscape could get significantly more competitive — spanning commodities, currencies, equities and crypto under tighter oversight. For Kalshi, starting with highly traded markets such as gold offers a pragmatic way to leverage momentum from its crypto perpetuals while appealing to a broader trader base.
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