Polymarket opens leveraged perpetual futures across asset classes

Polymarket has expanded its offerings to include leveraged perpetual futures across various asset classes, including cryptocurrencies, stocks, equity indices, and commodities. This platform, known primarily for prediction markets, now allows traders to engage in leveraged directional trading without a predetermined expiry date. Perpetual contracts on Polymarket carry up to 20 times leverage, enabling traders to take long or short positions in markets tied to Bitcoin, Ether, major technology shares, the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, gold, silver, and crude oil.

As of Thursday, there were 67 live perpetual markets on the platform, encompassing 24 cryptocurrency contracts, numerous equity-linked products, three index contracts, and four commodity contracts. These contracts differ from traditional prediction markets, as they continuously track the price of an underlying asset and are open until a trader closes the position or experiences margin requirements leading to liquidation.

Polymarket employs periodic funding payments between long and short positions to maintain alignment between perpetual prices and the underlying reference prices. However, trading these derivatives involves risks, including substantial potential for loss due to leverage magnifying both gains and losses. Access to Polymarket’s perpetual futures is currently limited, with trading blocked for users in the United States and directed to Polymarket US, a Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated market.

The international platform offering perpetual products remains unregulated by the CFTC. Trading activity was already visible on Thursday, with Ether and Bitcoin contracts among the most active instruments, alongside equity, commodity, and index markets. Perpetual futures have gained popularity in digital-asset markets due to their continuous exposure to market movements, surpassing the expiry dates of conventional futures.

This expansion places Polymarket’s perpetual products alongside its prediction-market offerings, potentially allowing users to transition between event-based contracts and conventional price exposure within the same platform. However, it is crucial to note that the 20-times leverage ceiling is a maximum, with available leverage varying by contract and risk parameters. Polymarket cautions that trading these derivatives carries a significant risk of loss.