Kalshi Seeks Approval for US500 Perpetual Futures Contract Amid CME Lawsuit

Kalshi has filed an application with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to list a perpetual futures contract tracking the MerQube US Large Cap Index, dubbed the 'US500'. This comes as CME challenges the CFTC's approval of Kalshi's bitcoin perpetual in federal court.

The US500 contract would be similar to S&P 500-style contracts but would not require the same licensing arrangements, which could make it easier for exchanges like Kalshi to offer such products. The index is a float-weighted benchmark of the 500 largest US-listed and domiciled companies, quoted in index points with a $1 multiplier per point.

Kalshi's application also doubles as a rebuttal to CME's lawsuit against the CFTC, which argues that Kalshi's bitcoin perpetual is actually a swap rather than a future. The exchange claims that regulating it as a future gives Kalshi an unfairly favourable set of rules.