Webull plans to put Bitcoin perpetual futures in front of more than 6 million clients. For years, that product lived mostly on offshore exchanges, far from regulated US platforms.
The brokerage, which trades on Nasdaq under the ticker BULL, announced the move on October 20, 2026. It is partnering with prediction-market operator Kalshi, and the launch is set for November 2026 for eligible US clients.
How the Webull and Kalshi deal works
Trades will run through KalshiEX LLC, Kalshi’s exchange entity overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Webull supplies the distribution and the client base. Kalshi supplies the regulated venue.
The first lineup will feature Bitcoin and a handful of other crypto assets. Webull expects to widen the product menu later in the year, pending regulatory approvals.
In September 2026, Webull launched event contracts tied to Bitcoin and Ethereum. Event contracts let traders take a yes-or-no position on an outcome, such as whether a price lands above a certain level. Perpetuals are the next step up in complexity.
What a perpetual future actually is
Perpetual futures never expire. Traditional futures settle on a fixed date, so traders have to roll positions forward. Perpetuals skip that step entirely.
Without an expiry date to pull the contract back toward reality, a periodic funding fee keeps the price aligned. Traders on one side of the market pay traders on the other side, depending on whether the contract trades above or below the spot price.
Global perpetual futures volume topped $90 trillion in 2025. Much of that activity is concentrated in crypto derivatives, where perpetuals have become the default way to trade.
The regulatory backdrop
Earlier in 2026, the CFTC approved the first US perpetual futures contracts, with Coinbase and Kalshi among the initial approvals. That approval cleared the path for the Webull partnership, since Webull is plugging into Kalshi’s approved venue instead of seeking its own.
The research notes the announcement drew a positive market reaction, framed as a sign of investor optimism about Webull’s expanding crypto capabilities. The findings did not include specific stock price figures.
What this means for Webull, Kalshi and retail traders
For Kalshi, the deal extends its reach beyond its own user base. A prediction-market operator with a CFTC-regulated exchange is now acting as wholesale infrastructure for a major retail brokerage.
Coinbase received CFTC approval for perpetuals in the same wave as Kalshi. That means two of the first US-approved venues are now chasing the same pool of American traders through different distribution strategies. Coinbase owns its customer relationship directly. Kalshi is building one through partners like Webull.
Perpetual futures are derivatives, and the funding mechanism adds a cost that spot buyers never face. Holding a position for a long stretch means paying, or collecting, those periodic fees the whole time.
How many of Webull’s 6 million clients choose to trade a product with funding fees and no expiry date will show whether regulated US perpetuals can pull meaningful activity from a market that recorded over $90 trillion in volume last year.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Kaye Quema. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.