Kalshi Expands Perpetual Futures Offerings Beyond Bitcoin

Kalshi has filed two applications with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to list perpetual futures contracts on a broad US equity index and copper prices. The move expands the prediction market platform's offerings beyond Bitcoin, which it was cleared to list in May. The new contracts would track the MerQube US Large Cap Index and the spot price of copper, respectively.

The 'US500 Contract' would be priced based on the performance of the 500 largest companies listed and headquartered in the US, while the 'COPPERPERP' contract would reference the Pyth Network XCU-USD price feed. Perpetual futures are derivative contracts with no fixed expiration date, allowing investors to speculate on price movements without holding the underlying asset.

The approval of these applications is not expected to be affected by an ongoing lawsuit filed by CME Group against the CFTC in June. The suit challenged the agency's decision to approve perpetual futures for Kalshi and Coinbase, arguing that they would compete directly with existing derivatives offerings and cause financial harm to the exchange.