TheBlock
Kalshi filed with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Tuesday to launch two new perpetual futures products, the latest step in the prediction-market platform's push to expand into a fully fledged financial exchange. The proposed US500 Contract would track the MerQube US Large Cap Index, a broad-based gauge of the 500 largest US-listed companies, while the COPPERPERP Contract would track spot copper priced in US dollars per pound using the Pyth Network XCU-USD price feed.
Why it matters
The filings mark Kalshi's clearest move yet beyond event-contract markets and into proxies for traditional finance. A perp tied to a 500-stock index is functionally a tool for leveraged equity exposure, while a copper perp puts Kalshi alongside industrial-metal books usually run by major derivatives venues. Naming Pyth Network as the copper oracle is notable too: the same on-chain price infrastructure that supports a growing roster of DeFi perps is now wired into a CFTC-supervised product spec.
The regulatory backdrop remains unresolved. In late May the CFTC cleared Kalshi to list a bitcoin perpetual contract, the first US-sanctioned perp of its kind. In June, CME Group sued the agency, alleging the approval violated the Commodity Exchange Act and that the new products would directly compete with CME's own derivatives books and harm the exchange. A second wave of filings, on equity and commodity underlyings, adds pressure to a dispute that will shape how US-regulated perps are written going forward.
Market impact
The price-feeds choice is the angle DeFi-native readers will track. If a CFTC-supervised copper perp settles off Pyth's XCU-USD feed, that effectively elevates an on-chain oracle into regulated market infrastructure, a precedent worth watching for tokenized-RWA and stablecoin collateral workflows that already lean on Pyth.
For derivatives, the immediate watch-items are the CFTC's approval timeline for the new contracts and the pace of the CME litigation.
Frequently asked questions
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What new perpetual futures did Kalshi just file for?
Kalshi filed with the CFTC for the US500 Contract, tracking the MerQube US Large Cap Index, and the COPPERPERP Contract, a perpetual on spot copper priced in US dollars per pound.
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What price feed would the copper perpetual use?
The COPPERPERP Contract would reference the Pyth Network XCU-USD price feed, the same on-chain oracle infrastructure used by a growing roster of DeFi perpetual venues.
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Why is Kalshi's filing significant beyond prediction markets?
Equity-index and industrial-metal perps are staples of major TradFi derivatives venues. Bringing them under Kalshi's CFTC-supervised roof tests whether regulated perpetual trading in the US can stretch beyond crypto underlyings.
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What is the status of the CME's challenge to Kalshi's perps?
In June, CME Group sued the CFTC alleging the agency's May approval of Kalshi's BTC perpetual violated the Commodity Exchange Act and harmed CME's own derivatives franchise. The suit remains active.
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When did Kalshi first get CFTC approval for a perpetual contract?
The CFTC cleared Kalshi to list a bitcoin perpetual contract in late May, the first US-sanctioned perp of its kind and the trigger for the CME lawsuit.
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