Kalshi filed two new perpetual futures contracts with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Aug. 18: one tracking a broad U.S. stock index, the other tracking spot copper. Both went thr
Kalshi filed two new perpetual futures contracts with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Aug. 18: one tracking a broad U.S. stock index, the other tracking spot copper. Both went through self-certification, the fastest regulatory pathway available to the exchange.
US500 Futures ContractUS500 is priced against the MerQube US Large Cap Index, a 500-stock benchmark of the largest U.S.-listed companies, rather than the S&P 500 itself.
COPPERPERP Futures ContractCOPPERPERP is priced against spot copper through Pyth Network’s price feed. Both settle exclusively in cash, with no path to physical delivery, and both trade nearly around the clock, from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon Eastern time.
ParameterUS500COPPERPERPUnderlyingMerQube US Large Cap Index (Bloomberg: MQ5C)Spot copper, XCU/USDReference/price sourceUnderlying Price Index (index-level mark)Pyth Network XCU/USD feedContract unit$1.00 per index point1,000 lbs of copperMinimum tick0.05 index points$0.0005/lb ($0.50/contract)Position limit$25,000,000 mark-to-market accountability level25,000 contracts (matches COMEX copper spot-month limit)Trading hoursSun 6:00pm – Fri 5:00pm ETSun 6:00pm – Fri 5:00pm ETSettlementCash-settled onlyCash-settled only, no physical deliveryFunding mechanismMark vs. Underlying Price Index differenceWeighted average of per-minute premiums; 0.002% deadband, 2.00% max clampClearingNot specified in filingKalshi Klear LLCThe copper contract borrows its position limit directly from COMEX’s own 25,000-contract spot-month cap, anchoring the new product to a benchmark regulators already recognize. Its $25 million accountability threshold is a figure Kalshi set itself, since no other exchange lists a perpetual on a broad U.S. equity index for it to reference.
That gap matters because it means the equity contract, the one drawing the most direct competitive interest, is also the one with the least regulatory precedent behind it.
The funding designs differ, too. US500’s mechanism is a straightforward gap between the contract’s mark and the index. COPPERPERP’s is more elaborate: a weighted average of per-minute premiums, bounded by a deadband and a cap.
That more engineered structure sits closer to the continuous price-transfer mechanics CME’s lawsuit says define a swap, while US500’s simpler index-tracking design reads closer to a traditional futures mark.
Kalshi’s gold, silver and platinum perpetuals, filed in July, are said to have gone through the CFTC’s prior-approval track, a review process that runs longer before a product can list.
Self-certified products can list on their own timeline, subject only to CFTC objection within a short window, which means Kalshi’s two contracts closest to CME and COMEX’s core business face less built-in review than the metals filings that came before them.
That pathway choice lands in the middle of a legal fight over whether any of it is allowed. CME Group sued the CFTC on June 18 in federal court in Washington, arguing that the agency’s approval of Kalshi’s Bitcoin perpetual violated the Commodity Exchange Act by treating a swap as a future. In its complaint, CME argued the order “does not acknowledge… Congress’ directive that instruments with… Kalshi’s perpetual contracts are swaps.”
A CFTC spokesperson dismissed the suit, saying it reflects incumbents who “fear the future and having to compete on a level playing field.” The case is still active.
The CFTC approved Kalshi’s Bitcoin perpetual on May 29, with Chairman Michael Selig acting alone as the sole confirmed commissioner and without a public comment period. Kalshi filed for 12 altcoin perpetuals days later, on June 2, covering assets including Ethereum, XRP and Dogecoin. Each requires its own CFTC review. CEO Tarek Mansour said at the time that “onshore, safe, and regulated perps will improve capital allocation and risk management for countless American businesses.”
The gold, silver and platinum filing followed in July. The US500 and copper filings came Aug. 18. In under three months, Kalshi has moved from a single crypto product into equity indexes and industrial metals, faster than the litigation over its first approval has been resolved.
Copper’s rationale predates this specific filing. Earlier this summer, while Kalshi was still weighing whether to pursue the product, chief risk officer Udesh Jha said copper “has a very strong story correlated with what’s happening in the AI and computing marketplace,” pointing to data center demand as the underlying case for a dedicated contract. The company was also evaluating palladium alongside copper at that point, though only copper appears in this week’s filing.
Because both contracts were self-certified, Kalshi can list them without a formal CFTC approval order, unless the commission objects within its standard review window. That leaves little formal opening for CME or COMEX to intervene before trading begins, even as CME’s underlying legal argument, that these products are swaps and were approved unlawfully, remains unresolved in court.
The filings also arrive while Kalshi is fighting on other fronts. New York sued the exchange on July 31 for $36 billion, alleging it has run an unlicensed gambling operation, and the CFTC issued an emergency order on Aug. 11 directing Kalshi to keep operating in the state anyway.
Separately, the CFTC opened a review of Kalshi’s “mention markets” in mid-August after reports that a member of the White House staff had used the product to bet on the president’s word choices. Kalshi pulled those markets from its sports offerings while the review continues.
