Polymarket Perps Launches 20x Crypto and Oil Futures

Polymarket launched Polymarket Perps on September 3, expanding beyond prediction markets into perpetual futures. The platform initially offers contracts linked to Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, gold, silver, WTI crude oil, the S&P 500, the Nasdaq 100 and SpaceX through the synthetic SPCX ticker. An earlier market list also referenced HYPE. Eligible international users can trade long or short with leverage of up to 20x, although limits depend on the contract, position size, margin rules and jurisdiction. Polymarket Perps have no expiry date and use funding payments to keep prices aligned with their reference assets. High leverage increases both profit potential and liquidation risk, while funding costs can affect returns. Polymarket claims deep liquidity and low fees but provided no supporting figures for volume, open interest or collateral. The company is also upgrading its infrastructure, targeting 200,000 orders per second and eventually more than 400,000. US users remain excluded because of Polymarket’s 2022 settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The launch places Polymarket Perps in a growing derivatives market that includes Hyperliquid’s oil contracts and Kalshi’s planned CFTC filing for a regulated US WTI perpetual contract. SpaceX exposure is synthetic because the company has no publicly traded shares. For crypto traders, the expansion may increase competition and liquidity across crypto and traditional-asset derivatives, but it does not directly change the fundamentals of BTC, ETH or SOL. Regulatory uncertainty, offshore access restrictions, funding costs and liquidation risk remain important factors.