Kalshi daily crypto perpetual-futures open interest reached a record $17.98 million. The reading puts attention on Kalshi’s CFTC-regulated perpetual futures, which allow traders to take leveraged positions on crypto prices without buying the underlying assets.

Perpetual futures, or perps, are derivative contracts that let traders take a position on an asset’s price without owning the asset itself. A trader can take a long position when expecting a price rise or a short position when expecting a decline. Unlike traditional futures, perpetual futures do not have an expiration date, although positions require sufficient collateral to remain open.

Kalshi’s perpetual-futures guide says the company became the…