Kalshi perps cross $1 billion, but plans strict employment data for traders: Details 

Kalshi perps volume has crossed the $1 billion trading volume milestone, ultimately showcasing pent-up demand for the products in the U.S. The prediction market platform became the first regulated platform to be allowed to trade perps in late May. 

Perps (perpetuals) allow traders to speculate on price without owning the underlying assets. Before Kalshi’s approval, there was no regulated way for U.S traders to gain exposure in the sector. 

For comparison, it took Kalshi nearly 4 years to hit the same volume perps logged in a week, noted John Wang, the platform’s Head of Crypto. 

Took 1 week for Kalshi Perps to get to $1B, and we haven’t even launched publicly yet. Prediction markets took 3.5 years to get to $1B.

According to the firm, there are 1 million users on the waitlist for the perps market, suggesting volumes will likely climb in the next few weeks. 

Can Kalshi rival Hyperliquid’s market share?

Now, the question is: can Kalshi perps eat into Hyperliquid market dominance? 

Hyperliquid [HYPE] is a decentralized platform that owes its massive success to perps markets across crypto and commodities (HIP-3). Most analysts had speculated that U.S users likely leverage VPNs to access Hyperliquid. 

And the Kalshi perps market growth may divert that demand. But it’s worth pointing out that Hyperliquid has no strict KYC (know your customer) requirements like Kalshi. In fact, Kalshi plans to restrict access unless traders share employment information. 

Commenting on the move, Robert J. Denault, Head of Enforcement at Kalshi, said, 

Market integrity is a more than just a lofty goal for us. It’s the reason we collect identification info from every trader, why we surveil our markets 24/7, and why we continue to expand our capabilities to prevent, detect, and punish misconduct.

This wasn’t surprising, given the recent scrutiny and pressure to rein in insider trading and access by sanctioned entities across prediction markets. However, this could make Hyperliquid more attractive.

Besides, only BTC and LINK perps have been approved, with 12 others on the pipeline for Kalshi. But Hyperliquid covers more crypto pairs and commodities.   

That said, the overall perpetual market sector volumes have dropped to a low of $174 billion, down from the peak of $1.2 trillion hit last October. 

Final Summary

• Kalshi perps hit a $1B trading volume record in just one week after debut 
• However, it was unclear whether new strict KYC rules, including employment data, could derail the growth