Polymarket announced perpetual futures trading on April 21, letting users go long or short on prediction markets around the clock.
The announcement arrived just hours after reports surfaced that rival Kalshi plans to launch its own perpetual product, codenamed “Timeless,” on April 27.
Prediction Market Perps Race Heats Up
Polymarket’s new perps feature will allow traders to take leveraged positions on prediction market outcomes without waiting for a contract to expire.
The platform framed the product as a way to “go long or short the markets you know 24/7,” according to its official announcement.
The timing appears strategic. Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour teased “Timeless” on April 13 with a cryptic video revealing an April 27 launch date in New York.
Kalshi’s product will also include crypto perpetual futures, putting it in direct competition with exchanges like Coinbase and Robinhood.
Both platforms have grown aggressively in recent months. Prediction market transactions surpassed 192 million in March 2026, an all-time record.
Kalshi, now valued at $11 billion, processes over $100 billion in annualized trading volume. Polymarket, valued at $9 billion, has seen weekly notional volume consistently exceed $1 billion through Q1 2026.
The rivalry between the two platforms mirrors a broader shift. Prediction markets increasingly resemble TradFi products, and perpetual contracts could accelerate that trend by attracting institutional-style trading flow.
Whether Polymarket’s head start translates into a lasting advantage may depend on how quickly both platforms can build liquidity for their new offerings.
