Kalshi Launches Ethereum Perpetuals With Zero Trading Fees

Prediction market Kalshi announced on Thursday that Ethereum perpetuals are now live for trading, marking the CFTC-regulated platform's latest expansion into crypto derivatives following last week's Bitcoin perpetuals debut in the United States. The firm labeled the rollout as "American Perpetuals" for compliant trading by US users, and announced zero trading fees for a limited time — though traders will need to sign up for the waiting list to enjoy the fee-free ride. Free is a price most on-chain degens are not accustomed to seeing on a regulated venue.

Ethereum Perpetuals Trading Goes Live on Kalshi

Kalshi launched Ethereum perpetual futures trading on June 4, the CFTC-regulated US prediction market platform confirmed in a X post. The offering provides regulated leveraged exposure to ETH without expiration, boosts liquidity, and — as Scott Melker, aka The Wolf Of All Streets, put it — represents "the trade Americans weren't allowed to make is now legal." The launch comes after Kalshi received CFTC approval for Bitcoin perpetual futures and its successful launch last week, pushing Kalshi further beyond its event-contract roots into crypto derivatives. ETH price is down more than 3% on the news, because crypto will crypto.

XRP, Solana, DOGE, SHIB, and 7 Others In Line for Approval

Kalshi filed for perpetual futures tied to altcoins including Ethereum (ETH), XRP, Solana (SOL), Stellar (XLM), Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), and Hedera (HBAR). The CFTC confirmed it plans to use a case-by-case review process for approving perpetual futures contracts beyond Bitcoin, and today the regulator has likely approved Ethereum perpetual trading on Kalshi. XRP, Solana, and Hedera perpetual futures trading could follow in the coming days once the Ethereum launch settles in.

Analyst Ted Pillows tested Kalshi's new Ethereum perpetuals product, opening a small Ethereum short as total Ethereum open interest plunged more than 6% to $26.48 billion. He also dangled an early access code to anyone who commented "Kalshi" on the post — a marketing strategy as old as the very perpetuals he was shorting.