Bitcoin Perpetual Futures Leverage Puts $67,000 In Play

"$84M IN CRYPTO LONGS JUST GOT WIPED OUT IN THE PAST HOUR," the trading YouTuber That Martini Guy posted to 705,000 followers on August 23, as bitcoin dipped below $76,000 on its way to $81,000 two days later, capping a week in which it surged roughly 25%. "This is what leverage does. The move down forces longs to sell, which creates more selling pressure, which triggers more liquidations. And suddenly a small move becomes a much bigger one."

"This marks Kalshi's evolution from prediction market leader to next-gen derivatives exchange," said Tarek Mansour, the chief executive of prediction market Kalshi, when the CFTC approved its spot bitcoin perpetual futures contract in late May, rewiring the market those wipeouts now hit. "Onshore, safe, and regulated perps will improve capital allocation and risk management for countless American businesses."

Offshore perpetuals had grown "from $28 trillion in annual volume in 2023 to over $90 trillion in 2025," Kalshi's launch post noted, an asset class "entirely closed off to American institutions until now." The live contracts cleared $5.5 billion in their first two weeks after a June 3 debut, Bloomberg reported.

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