Kalshi announced today that it will begin offering perpetual futures contracts — a form of derivative that moves the prediction market company into more complex trades than conventional yes-or-no bets.

Why it matters: Perps — as they're commonly known — are a staple of crypto derivatives markets now pushing into mainstream finance.

• They serve as futures contracts that allow investors to effectively bet on whether the price of an existing asset will go up or down, without a fixed end date.

What they're saying: Kalshi said it will become "the first company in American history to offer perpetuals" and that they will be "fully regulated" by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which has been consistently supportive of surging prediction markets.

• "This marks Kalshi's evolution from prediction market leader to next-gen derivatives exchange," Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour said in a statement.

The intrigue: The announcement comes the same day the CFTC said it would permit perp listings tied to bitcoin.

• The commission — which currently has only one member, chair Michael Selig, who was appointed by President Trump — said it would review other perp contracts on a "case-by-case" basis.
• Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., is an advisor to both Kalshi and Polymarket, and an investor in Polymarket through his venture capital firm 1789 Capital.

What's next: Kalshi said it plans to launch crypto perps on more than a dozen currencies after landing regulatory approval.

• It will not offer perps on agricultural commodities.

💭 Thought bubble via Axios Pro Rata author Dan Primack: "Kalshi appears locked in a battle with Polymarket, but its product is leaps and bounds ahead for U.S. users. Not only because of today's announcement, which puts it in a new product category entirely, but also because Polymarket's U.S. app currently offers nothing beyond sports."

Dell isn't exactly a PC company anymore — and investors are giddy about it.

State of play: The company's stock soared 32% today after it reported a stunning 757% increase in AI server revenue in its most recent period.

• Dell also said it booked $24.4 billion in "AI orders" and raised its fiscal-year AI server revenue estimate to $60 billion — $10 billion more than it projected three months ago.

The impact: Ben Reitzes, head of technology research at Melius, told CNBC he'd "never seen anything like" Dell's latest quarter.

• "They beat every line in the model, so this wasn't just AI, it was great execution," Reitzes said.

🏦 OpenAI has spoken with banks, including Citigroup and JPMorgan, to join Goldman and Morgan Stanley on the preparations for an IPO. (Bloomberg)

🚗 Automakers are stockpiling vehicles amid war-shaken supply chains. (Axios)

Goldman Sachs has a new research report out today, and it involves Spain taking down Argentina, Axios' Pete Gannon writes.

Between the lines: The firm released its latest World Cup forecast, "World Cup 2026: Predictions, Probabilities, and Paths to Victory."

• Published by the firm's chief economist Jan Hatzius, the 17-page report projects semi-final matchups of Spain vs. France and Argentina vs. Brazil.
• It also predicts a U.S. vs. Iran matchup in the round of 32. (It has the U.S. winning, but losing to Argentina in the round of 16.)

The big picture: It's an entertaining way for the Wall Street firm to show off its data modeling chops, while warning that investors — should they decide to stake a wager — should consider the report "as only a single factor in making their investment decision."

What we're watching: Goldman's model gives its projected winner, Spain, a 26% probability of winning the trophy.