Kalshi launches single-stock perps after CFTC 45-day review lapses

Kalshi switched on single-stock perpetual futures on Nov 5, with over $300 million traded by mid-morning, according to co-founder Luana Lopes Lara. The product cleared under CFTC Regulation 40.3 after the 45-day review window on Kalshi's Sept 18 filing lapsed on Nov 2 without a block. Primary coverage: Crypto Briefing and Risk.net. The CFTC's self-certification regime is documented at 17 CFR § 40.3.

What happened

Kalshi filed proposed new products with the CFTC on Sept 18. Under Regulation 40.3, the agency has 45 days to review a product-specific filing from a designated contract market; the review window on Kalshi's filing ran out on Nov 2 without a written objection, so the product was deemed approved by default. CFTC approval by lapsed review is explicitly not an endorsement — it is the absence of a regulatory block. Trading opened Nov 5.

The initial listing covers more than 50 US equities and ETFs on NYSE and NASDAQ. Crypto Briefing names McDonald's, Palantir, Meta, Qualcomm and NVIDIA among the launch universe; Risk.net lists the first four self-certified contracts as Qualcomm, McDonald's, Amgen and Costco with more rolling in during the day. Volume figures are first-day totals and include activity from a quieter stealth phase that followed the Nov 2 deemed-approval date.

Contract mechanics

• Contract size: 0.02 shares. 50 contracts = 1 full share.
• No expiration, no rollover fees. Positions settle a daily funding payment at 16:00 ET.
• Leverage: up to ~4.9x on launch assets (varies by stock). $100 of margin controls roughly $490 of notional.
• Collateral: 15.5% of the contract's market value, per Risk.net.
• Clearing: All contracts clear through Kalshi Klear LLC, Kalshi's wholly-owned, CFTC-registered derivatives clearing organization.
• Classification: CFTC Chairman Michael Selig characterized the contracts as security futures products, subject to joint CFTC and SEC oversight; listing exchanges must also hold SEC registration.

What's under contest

Approval-by-lapsed-review is already in court. The Capital Markets Alliance — a coalition including Cboe and Citadel Securities — sued, arguing the CFTC lacks statutory authority to clear equity perpetual futures for retail trading. On Nov 3, Judge Valerie Caproni in the Southern District of New York denied a temporary restraining order, letting the product list while an injunction motion proceeds; per Risk.net, the judge also signaled skepticism about the CFTC's statutory basis. The docket remains open.

Numbers block

• Filing date: Sept 18, 2026
• Review window closed: Nov 2, 2026 (CFTC Reg. 40.3, 45-day period)
• Launch date: Nov 5, 2026
• First-morning volume (per Lopes Lara): >$300M
• Initial product count: >50 equities + ETFs; 4 self-certified at open (Risk.net)
• Leverage cap at launch: ~4.9x
• Collateral requirement: 15.5%
• Contract size: 0.02 share per contract
• Funding settlement time: 16:00 ET, daily
• Clearing: Kalshi Klear LLC

What to watch

1. The injunction hearing schedule after Judge Caproni's Nov 3 TRO denial; any finding that the CFTC overstepped would force a product halt.
2. SEC posture. Chairman Selig's security-futures framing puts dual-agency oversight on the table; any SEC enforcement notice to Kalshi-partnered broker-dealers would reshape the product universe quickly.
3. Competing filings. Coinbase and Payward (Kraken) have equivalent single-stock perp filings pending; whether their 45-day windows clear on the same track is an early read on the CFTC's willingness to keep the lane open.
4. Funding-rate behavior. Equity perps don't have the long history of crypto perps; expect wider funding dispersion at first, particularly around earnings prints on launch tickers.

Context

Kalshi is a CFTC-registered designated contract market better known for event contracts (elections, policy outcomes). It launched crypto perps on BTC and ETH on April 27, 2026 (same CFTC approval posture); a stock-index perpetual followed on Oct 6 (CFTC equity-perp posture). Single-stock perps now extend the self-certification playbook to individual listed names. The structural question — whether retail-facing perpetual futures on US equities belong on a CFTC-regulated DCM at all, or on a securities exchange with SEC oversight — is exactly the one before Judge Caproni, and the one Cboe and Citadel's lawsuit was filed to answer.