Key facts
- Polymarket launched its perpetual futures product, Perps, on September 3.
- The platform initially offered 10 markets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, gold, silver, WTI oil, S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and SpaceX shares.
- Leverage caps are set at 20x for crypto, S&P 500, oil, gold, and silver, and 10x for individual stocks and other real-world assets.
- Perpetual futures track underlying asset prices continuously with no expiration date.
- U.S. traders are unable to access the main platform and are instead routed to Polymarket US, a CFTC-regulated exchange.
- Polymarket settled with the CFTC in 2022 for $1.4 million over unregistered swaps.
Polymarket, a prediction market platform, has launched its new perpetual futures product, Perps, allowing traders to speculate on a range of assets with high leverage. The platform initially offered 10 markets, including cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, alongside traditional assets such as the S&P 500, gold, and oil. The number of available markets quickly expanded to 67.
Perps features leverage caps varying by asset type, with crypto, major indices, commodities, and precious metals supporting up to 20x leverage. Individual stocks and other real-world assets are capped at 10x leverage. Unlike Polymarket's traditional contracts that settle to $1 or $0, perpetual futures track the underlying asset's price continuously and have no expiration date. A funding rate mechanism is used to incentivize long and short traders to keep the contract price anchored to the spot market, with a cap of 4% per hour in either direction.
Maintenance margin requirements are set at half the maximum leverage rate, meaning a 20x leveraged position could be liquidated if it loses approximately 2.5% of its posted margin. Polymarket promoted the launch by highlighting its ability to facilitate complex trades, such as a combined long Bitcoin, bet on the Fed's next move, and short S&P 500 reaction, all within a single account. The company also claimed its product offers the deepest liquidity and lowest fees among crypto perpetuals venues.
However, U.S. traders are excluded from placing orders on the main Perps platform. Instead, they are routed to Polymarket US, a separate exchange regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). This operational split stems from a 2022 settlement where Polymarket paid a $1.4 million fine and was required to wind down noncompliant contracts after being found to operate an unregistered swaps facility. While Polymarket has since re-entered the U.S. market, its offerings are more limited.
Polymarket faces competition in the U.S. market, with Kalshi having received CFTC approval for its Bitcoin perpetual futures contract in May, becoming the first onshore perpetual futures product in the country. Kalshi has since filed for perpetuals on additional altcoins and a copper contract. The decentralized exchange Hyperliquid is also a significant competitor in the on-chain perpetuals space and is reportedly in negotiations with Kraken's parent company, Payward, to become accessible to U.S. traders.