Kalshi Files for US500 and Copper Perpetual Futures

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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.

• Kalshi self-certified US500, tracking the MerQube US Large Cap Index, and COPPERPERP, tracking spot copper, with the CFTC on Aug. 18.
• Self-certification lets a contract go live without CFTC pre-clearance, a faster route than the prior-approval process Kalshi used weeks earlier for its precious-metals perpetuals.
• CME Group’s lawsuit arguing Kalshi’s perpetual futures are legally swaps, not futures, remains pending in federal court in Washington.

What each contract tracks

US500 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 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.

The 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.

A faster lane than gold and silver got

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.

Four asset classes in under three months

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.

Kalshi’s Perpetual Futures Expansion

• May 29: Bitcoin perpetual approved – CFTC approval.
• June 2: 12 altcoin perpetuals filed – CFTC review.
• June 18: CME sues over Kalshi’s perpetual futures – legal challenge.
• July: Gold, silver and platinum perpetuals filed – prior approval.
• Aug. 18: US500 and COPPERPERP filed – self-certification.

Copper’s separate pitch

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.

The objection window is short

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.