Kalshi just brought crypto perps to the US, targeting a $90 trillion offshore market. Its Head of Crypto, John Wang, explains the bet, the risks, and who Kalshi is actually competing with.
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Kalshi just brought crypto perps to the US, targeting a $90 trillion offshore market. Its Head of Crypto, John Wang, explains the bet, the risks, and who Kalshi is actually competing with.
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The $90 trillion offshore market for crypto perpetual futures just got its first US-regulated entrant. Kalshi — the prediction market exchange that raised $1 billion at a $22 billion valuation — launched the first CFTC-approved crypto perps, becoming the only domestic exchange approved on launch day.
John Wang, Kalshi's Head of Crypto, joins Laura Shin to map how perpetual futures work, why Kalshi's guarantee fund and segregated accounts differ from what offshore venues provide, and how the exchange plans to compete with Hyperliquid, Coinbase, and Kraken.
Wang pushes back on CME Group CEO Terry Duffy's claim that crypto perps are "a disaster waiting to happen," noting CME's own futures carry higher leverage than Kalshi's platform. He covers the ARCA and Galaxy block trades on Kalshi's prediction markets, insider trading protections built around athlete and congressional staff lists, and the regulatory filings separating Kalshi from perps on equities. Wang estimates only 0.2% of the US has adopted perpetual futures — the real growth has barely started.
Host:
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Laura Shin, Host / Unchained
Guests:
Timestamps
🎯 02:51 Why Kalshi chose crypto perps as its first product outside prediction markets
🔧 05:15 What a perpetual future is and why traders prefer it over options and standard futures
🤓 11:14 The metric that reveals real demand: Kalshi's ratio of trading volume to open interest
🛡️ 14:19 How Kalshi plans to onboard Americans, and how its risk model differs from Hyperliquid's auto-deleveraging
🏛️ 21:05 Wang on Terry Duffy's claim that crypto perps are 'a disaster waiting to happen'
🎓 23:17 Fidelity: Explore crypto careers that could change your future at https://crypto.fidelitycareers.com
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🤝 25:32 How institutions are pitching its perps to institutions — and which ones have so far done trades
🌐 33:09 How Kalshi plans to compete with Hyperliquid, Coinbase, Kraken, and Robinhood
🔍 41:14 How Kalshi attempts to prevent insider trading — and what John thinks about its rivalry with Polymarket
💰 46:16 Kalshi's roadmap after its $1 billion raise at a $22 billion valuation
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