Kalshi to seek approval for first US-regulated oil perpetual futures contract

Kalshi plans to seek US regulatory approval for a perpetual West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures contract, a move that would extend the prediction-market company’s push into traditional financial markets, Reuters reported Wednesday.

The company could submit the filing to the CFTC as soon as next week, seeking permission to offer the WTI contract five days a week around the clock. If approved, it would mark the first oil-linked perpetual futures product available on a regulated US platform.

The proposed offering follows growing demand for perpetual contracts on offshore decentralized exchanges, including Hyperliquid. Unlike conventional futures, perps have no expiration and allow traders to maintain positions without periodically rolling contracts. Their use of leverage also increases exposure to both gains and losses.

Kalshi is increasingly using perpetual futures to broaden its business beyond event contracts. The company has filed for perpetual products tied to equity indexes and metals and has submitted additional filings for foreign exchange and interest-rate contracts, according to media reports.

The CFTC has indicated that new asset classes will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Earlier this year, it approved the first perpetual futures contracts in the US for Coinbase and Kalshi, opening the door for regulated versions of a product that has largely been associated with offshore crypto markets.

According to the report, Kalshi structured the proposed crude contract to address issues identified by the CFTC during its review of 24/7 futures trading and perpetual energy contracts. The agency recently considered rules that could allow around-the-clock trading of standard futures as well as perpetual contracts tied to physically delivered or storable energy commodities.

The push into crude comes as regulators weigh how far to extend continuous futures trading. Earlier this year, the CFTC stopped a proposed CME Group crude-oil futures contract that would have offered round-the-clock trading.