Kalshi's US 500 Perpetual: How It Works, Plus 4 Example Trades

Kalshi has taken its perpetual futures beyond crypto and metals. On October 6, 2026, the exchange launched a US 500 perpetual future (ticker US500PERP), which lets traders bet on the direction of America's largest companies with leverage, going long or short, and without an expiration date. The CFTC approved the contract days before launch, and Kalshi calls it the first stock index perpetual future in the US.

"Stock market exposure is the next step towards Kalshi becoming a full-service financial exchange, and perps are the best way for our traders to get this exposure," said CEO Tarek Mansour.

Below we explain how the contract works, then walk through four example trades, each with the reasoning behind it and what could go wrong. If perpetual futures are new to you, start with our Kalshi Perpetuals explainer.

The Contract at a Glance

Feature	Detail
Underlying	Kalshi's US 500 index (the MerQube US Large Cap Index): 500 of the largest US companies, weighted by market cap
Size	$1 per index point, tradable in fractions as small as 1/10,000 of a contract
Expiry	None. Positions stay open until you close them or get liquidated
Settlement	Cash-settled, cleared through Kalshi Klear
Trading hours	Sunday 6 p.m. ET to Friday 5 p.m. ET, similar to the weekly schedule of CME's stock index futures
Price anchor	Periodic funding payments between longs and shorts
Regulator	CFTC (Kalshi filed in August 2026)

Because the contract pays $1 per index point, one full contract with the index at 6,500 is a $6,500 position. Fractional sizing means you can trade a $650 or $65 slice instead. Leverage limits and fees are shown on the market page in the Kalshi app, so check them there before trading. Kalshi's existing perps go up to 6x, but treat that as a ceiling, not a target.

Why a perp instead of an index fund or E-mini?

• vs. an index ETF: the perp lets you go short as easily as long, use leverage, and trade overnight. The trade-off is funding. An ETF charges a few hundredths of a percent a year, while perp funding can cost far more if you hold for months.
• vs. CME E-mini futures: E-minis expire quarterly, so long-term holders have to "roll" into the next contract. Kalshi's filing says the perp "collapses that maintenance into a single, continuously held instrument." Fractional sizing also makes it reachable for much smaller accounts.

4 Example Trades (and the Reasoning Behind Each)

These examples are hypothetical, built on round numbers with the index at 6,500 to keep the math simple. They show how a trader might think, not what you should do. Real prices, fees and funding will differ, and every trade here can lose money.

Trade 1: Reacting to Sunday-night news

The setup: over a weekend, a major trade deal is announced unexpectedly, and you think it's good news for large US companies. Stock markets are closed until Monday 9:30 a.m. ET, but the US 500 perp reopens Sunday at 6 p.m. ET.

The trade: go long $3,250 of US 500 exposure (half a contract) with $1,625 of margin, which is 2x leverage.

The reasoning: if markets like the news, much of the reaction happens before the opening bell. With a stock or ETF, you'd buy at Monday's open, after the price has already jumped. The perp lets you act on the news Sunday night.

The outcome math: if the index rises 1.5% by Monday afternoon, your $3,250 position gains about $49, a roughly 3% return on your $1,625 margin. If the market "sells the news" and falls 1.5%, you lose about $49.

What could go wrong: thin overnight trading can mean wider gaps between buy and sell prices, so you pay more to get in and out. And early reactions can reverse once the opening bell brings in the full market.

Trade 2: Hedging your retirement account through a risky week

The setup: you have $40,000 in an S&P 500 index fund in your 401(k). A Fed decision and a big jobs report land in the same week, and you're nervous. You don't want to sell, because you might miss a rebound, and many 401(k) plans limit how often you can move money in and out.

The trade: short $10,000 of US 500 exposure (about 1.5 contracts) with $5,000 of margin (2x). That offsets roughly a quarter of your stock exposure.

The reasoning: the US 500 index and the S&P 500 hold largely the same big companies, so they tend to move together. If stocks fall 5%, your fund loses about $2,000 and your short gains about $500, cutting the loss by a quarter. You're paying for that protection with some upside: if stocks rally 5%, the short loses about $500.

What could go wrong: the two indexes aren't identical, so the hedge won't match exactly. A sharp rally can push your short toward liquidation even while your 401(k) is gaining, because the gains sit in your retirement account, not in your Kalshi margin. Also, the perp doesn't trade from Friday 5 p.m. to Sunday 6 p.m. ET, so a hedge can't react to weekend news until Sunday evening.

Trade 3: Shorting into an inflation report you think will come in hot

The setup: the CPI report is due Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. ET, before the stock market opens. You've been watching rising energy and shipping prices, and you think inflation will come in above forecasts, which could push back expectations for rate cuts and hurt stocks.

The trade: short $2,000 of US 500 exposure with $1,000 of margin (2x) on Tuesday afternoon. Set an exit trigger to close the trade if the index rises 2% against you.

The reasoning: the report comes out during perp trading hours but an hour before the opening bell, so the perp reacts first. Before trading, look at Kalshi's own CPI and Fed rate event markets. If they already price in a hot number, your view isn't contrarian and the upside is smaller. If they lean the other way, your thesis disagrees with the crowd, and that disagreement is the trade.

The outcome math: if CPI runs hot and the index falls 2%, you make about $40, roughly 4% on your margin. If CPI comes in soft and stocks jump 2%, your exit trigger closes the trade for about a $40 loss.

What could go wrong: data releases cause fast price jumps, and the price can skip past your trigger, so your exit may come at a worse level than you set. A different approach would cap the loss completely: buy a Kalshi CPI event contract instead, where the most you can lose is the price you pay.

Trade 4: Stocks vs. Bitcoin, in one account

The setup: after a big crypto rally, you think Bitcoin has gotten ahead of itself compared with the stock market, but you don't want a bet on which way everything moves.

The trade: go long $2,000 of the US 500 perp and short $2,000 of the Bitcoin perp, each at 2x ($1,000 margin apiece). Both positions sit in your Kalshi account.

The reasoning: this is a relative bet. If both markets fall together, losses on the stock side are offset by gains on the Bitcoin short. You make money if stocks beat Bitcoin, whatever direction the overall market takes. If the US 500 rises 2% and Bitcoin falls 5%, you make about $40 on stocks plus about $100 on the Bitcoin short.

What could go wrong: Bitcoin is far more volatile than a 500-stock index, so equal dollar amounts don't mean equal risk. A sudden 20% Bitcoin rally could hit your short hard while stocks barely move. Kalshi's app uses isolated margin, so each leg stands on its own and one side can be liquidated even if the overall trade is close to break-even. Bitcoin markets also keep moving through the weekend while the US 500 perp is closed, so the two sides can drift apart from Friday afternoon until Sunday evening.

The Trade We'd Skip: Leveraged Buy-and-Hold

It's tempting to go 3x long the US 500 and hold it for years. Funding is the reason not to. Funding payments are typically exchanged every 8 hours on Kalshi's perps, and when more traders want to be long than short, longs pay shorts. With stocks, that's the side most people naturally lean toward.

Suppose funding averaged 0.01% per 8-hour period on a $6,500 position. That's about $0.65 per period, nearly $2 a day, or roughly $700 a year, about 11% of the position's value. A low-cost S&P 500 ETF charges a few dollars a year on the same amount. Funding rates change constantly and could be higher or lower than this, but the point holds: perps are built for trades measured in days or weeks, not decades.

The Bottom Line

The US 500 perp puts the whole large-cap stock market in the same account as your Bitcoin perps and event contracts, with nearly 24/5 trading and no expiry to manage. It's most useful for reacting to overnight news, hedging a portfolio through a risky stretch, and expressing views around data releases. Treat funding as a real cost, keep leverage modest, and the US 500 perp can be a useful tool in your trading. For more ways to manage perp risk, see our five beginner-friendly perps strategies.