US-Regulated Exchange Seeks Approval for Oil Perpetual Futures Contract
Kalshi, the US-regulated exchange that approved a Bitcoin perpetual in May, is seeking approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to launch a perpetual futures contract tied to West Texas Intermediate crude oil. If approved, it would be the first oil perpetual on a regulated US platform and utilize a product structure built in crypto.
The proposed WTI contract will trade 24 hours a day, five days a week, with no fixed expiration date, unlike conventional futures contracts. This design choice may improve the contract's chances of approval but weakens its strongest use case: allowing traders to maintain exposure to oil prices continuously.
Unlike Bitcoin perpetuals, which reference spot trading that runs continuously across many venues, oil prices depend on physical supply and storage, which can lead to a more complex pricing structure. A perpetual contract must account for this difference, and the CFTC's approval of Kalshi's Bitcoin perpetual was tied to its globally distributed and continuously observable spot trading.
The reported plan by Kalshi separates contract maturity from trading hours and the reliability of the market being tracked. The exchange has yet to disclose the final index and funding terms for the WTI perpetual, which may affect how it is used by traders.