Kalshi Debuts CFTC-Approved Spot Bitcoin Perpetual Futures; First Two Weeks Clear $5.5B

Bitcoin's latest bout of volatility has sparked heavy liquidations in leveraged long positions, according to Odaily Planet Daily. On Aug. 22, liquidations hit $529 million in a single hour, including $478 million in longs. On Aug. 23, another $84 million in crypto long positions was wiped out within one hour. Prediction market Kalshi introduced its first CFTC-approved spot Bitcoin perpetual futures contract on June 3. The exchange said the product generated $5.5 billion in clearing volume in its first two weeks. CEO Tarek Mansour called it a regulated, U.S.-based venue for perpetual contract trading aimed at domestic institutions. Critics argue the rollout leaves retail investors exposed. Benjamin Schiffrin, Better Markets' director of securities policy, said perpetual futures are high-risk crypto instruments and that the CFTC approved them without adding investor safeguards. Market watchers point to sizeable positioning around current levels. Analytics account Qmo said a large concentration of Bitcoin long positions sits between $62,000 and $67,000. Trader Money Bunny reported that short liquidations totaled roughly $2.7 billion to $3.5 billion over a 24-hour window. (Forbes Digital Assets)