Kalshi lets traders borrow against bitcoin to fund perps, as Webull brings Kalshi perpetuals to US customers
Kalshi Prime clients will be able to borrow against bitcoin, ether and compliant stablecoins held at BitGo to margin perpetual futures, and Webull says eligible US customers can trade Kalshi’s perps from November. What was announced and what it means.
Kalshi is building out the plumbing for leveraged crypto trading in the US. Under a new tri-party arrangement with BitGo, reported on 21 October 2026, customers of Kalshi Prime, Kalshi's futures commission merchant, can borrow against digital assets and use the money to margin perpetual futures on Kalshi's exchange. A day earlier, Webull said eligible US customers would be able to trade those perpetuals from November.
The lending deal
- Who lends: Kalshi Katalyst, a lending affiliate of Kalshi Prime.
- Where the collateral sits: BitGo Bank & Trust, BitGo's federally chartered trust bank.
- Eligible collateral: bitcoin, ether and stablecoins that comply with the GENIUS Act; more custodians are expected to join.
- What it is for: funding margin on Kalshi's perpetual futures, so holders can trade without selling their coins.
Interest rates, loan-to-value limits and terms were not published. According to Bloomberg, which first reported the deal, Kalshi Prime's chief executive, Jeff Bandman, said it was designed with crypto-native traders in mind, including people now using offshore perpetuals venues.
Webull's rollout
Webull's perpetuals will trade on KalshiEX, Kalshi's CFTC-regulated exchange, and clear through Kalshi Klear, its clearinghouse. Access starts with customers already approved for futures, beginning with bitcoin and a handful of other crypto assets, with wider availability expected before year-end. Webull pointed to more than $90 trillion of global perpetuals volume in 2025 as the reason to offer them through a regulated platform.
Why it matters
Perpetual futures, contracts with no expiry date that track a price through funding payments, are the biggest product in offshore crypto trading. Kalshi launched a US-regulated bitcoin perpetual in June, added gold and silver in September and a US stock index in October (Kalshi's US500 perpetual). Lending against crypto and distribution through brokers are the two pieces that turn that into volume. Background on how perps work and how they differ from event contracts: Kalshi and Polymarket perps.
The usual caution applies: borrowing to trade leveraged products can lose more than the collateral's price move suggests if positions are liquidated.
