Kalshi files U.S. equity-index and copper perpetuals with the CFTC
The exchange submitted contracts tied to the MerQube US Large Cap Index and spot copper, but the filings say listing would follow Commission approval.
By The Third AnglePublished 3 min read
Illustrative market-screen imagery for a report on Kalshi's proposed perpetual futures; the image does not depict Kalshi's systems or the CFTC filings. Photo: Unsplash · Unsplash License
KalshiEX LLC has filed two perpetual-futures contracts with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission: one tied to the MerQube US Large Cap Index and another tied to spot copper. The US500 filing and COPPERPERP filing are dated Aug. 18 and say Kalshi intends to list the contracts shortly after Commission approval.
The US500 contract would reference a broad-based index of 500 large U.S. companies administered by MerQube. The copper contract would reference a Pyth Network XCU-USD price feed, according to the filings. Neither filing says that the contracts have been approved or are already trading.
A regulated version of a crypto-native structure
Perpetual futures have no fixed expiration date. Instead, the contracts use mark-to-market accounting and periodic funding transfers to keep the traded price aligned with a reference. Kalshi's US500 filing describes continuous weekday trading, cash settlement and a $1 multiplier for each index point.
Kalshi's proposal follows the CFTC's May approval of the exchange's bitcoin perpetual, a decision that CME Group is challenging in court. The new filings extend the product structure beyond digital assets to a broad U.S. equity index and an industrial metal.
Approval is the next checkpoint
The filings are product submissions, not a decision by the CFTC. If approved, the contracts would bring continuous, funding-based exposure to U.S. equities and copper onto a registered derivatives venue without giving traders ownership of the underlying companies or metal.
The practical questions are how the Commission evaluates the contracts, how the reference prices behave outside regular equity-market hours and whether the proposed funding, margin and position-accountability rules produce a usable market. The filings say the US500 contract would trade continuously from Sunday evening through Friday afternoon Eastern time.
