Kalshi Pushes 24/7 Tesla and Nvidia Perps as Wall Street Battles Regulators

Kalshi is looking to obtain U.S. approval for roughly 60 perpetual futures tied to individual stocks and ETFs, bringing a crypto-style trading product into the traditional equity market.

The proposed contracts could include Tesla, Apple and Nvidia and potentially trade 24 hours a day. If approved, they would become the first regulated perpetual futures linked to individual U.S. stocks.

Perpetual futures, or perps, have no expiration date and allow traders to take leveraged long or short positions. Funding payments are typically used to keep their prices close to the underlying asset. The contracts have become a major feature of crypto markets since BitMEX introduced them in 2016. Platforms such as Hyperliquid now offer perpetual trading on bitcoin and hundreds of other tokens around the clock.

A Tesla perp could continue trading overnight and on weekends while the Nasdaq is closed, giving investors a continuous indication of market sentiment and potential stock prices before the regular market reopens.

The proposal has sparked a regulatory debate over whether these stock-linked contracts should be overseen by the CFTC or the SEC.

Kalshi received CFTC approval in May for a bitcoin perpetual classified as a futures product. However, the agency indicated that perpetual contracts based on other asset classes would require separate reviews.

Citadel Securities has argued that products tied to U.S. public companies should remain under SEC oversight. In a letter sent Thursday to the SEC and CFTC, the firm warned that moving such contracts outside the securities framework could create a “parallel shadow market” disconnected from surveillance covering U.S. stocks and options.

Citadel also raised concerns about market manipulation and insider trading. For example, an employee with confidential earnings information could potentially trade a stock perp while the underlying market is closed. A company could also release important news during a trading halt while its perpetual contract continues moving.

The firm said SEC oversight connects surveillance across stocks, options and related instruments, helping regulators identify insider trading or efforts to influence one market through another. Rules governing trading halts, order execution and market access may not automatically apply under a different regulatory framework.

At the heart of the dispute is whether the 24/7 trading model popularized by crypto can be integrated into traditional stock markets, which continue to operate within fixed trading hours.