Dogecoin continues to strengthen its position in the U.S. market: trading in fully regulated perpetual DOGE futures has officially begun in the United States by Kalshi, giving retail investors access to legal “perpetual” contracts on the meme token within a CFTC-regulated jurisdiction.
Until now, local traders had to choose between fixed-term futures on Coinbase and Robinhood or move to offshore platforms. The listing under the Kalshi brand changes that picture.
How the math works for the new Dogecoin contracts
Instead of large lots, the exchange has introduced a fractional format: one contract equals just 10 DOGE. Leverage is kept within strict regulatory limits, with a maximum of 3.8x for long positions and 2.8x for short positions, ruling out the aggressive 50x or 100x leverage common on offshore exchanges. Quotes are tied to CF Benchmarks’ DOGEUSD_RTI spot index, settlements run around the clock, and the funding rate is recalculated every eight hours.
The first hours of trading have already shown a close contest: with daily volume of about $952,100 and open interest of $553,300, positions are slightly skewed toward bears, at 54% versus 46% for bulls.
The main economic benefit of onshore perpetuals for Americans is tax treatment. The contracts fall under Section 1256 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, which applies the 60/40 rule to profits: 60% of income is taxed at the lower long-term capital gains rate, while 40% is taxed at the short-term rate, regardless of how many minutes a trader held the position.
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Among the additional terms, Kalshi pays 3.25% annual interest on uninvested dollar margin balances starting at $250 and supports standard protective orders. However, accounts are not insured by the FDIC or SIPC.
For Kalshi, which built its name on prediction markets, expansion into crypto continues a shift in its business model. The platform is aggressively growing this segment after its summer debut in the perpetual futures market generated more than $5.5 billion in cumulative trading volume.
The DOGE launch coincided with an internal restructuring: starting October 13, 2026, the platform closed its VIP volume-based rewards program amid regulatory pressure over large transactions. Even so, the company plans to scale this initiative and is already preparing applications for similar futures on metals and the US500 stock index.
