Kalshi Files with CFTC to Launch Copper Perpetual Futures
COPPERPERP contract uses Pyth Network data feed with cash settlement and no expiration date
Prediction market operator Kalshi has submitted a filing to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to list a perpetual futures contract tied to copper spot prices, expanding its financial derivatives suite following its earlier approval for Bitcoin perpetual contracts.
Filed August 18, the proposed COPPERPERP contract would track the spot price of copper in U.S. dollars per pound using a price feed from Pyth Network, a blockchain-based market data provider that aggregates pricing from exchanges, market makers, and other financial firms.
Pyth Network aggregates first-party market data across trading venues to deliver continuous pricing updates on-chain. By integrating this oracle system into a regulated exchange environment, Kalshi aims to support continuous contract pricing without relying on traditional daily settlement windows or physical delivery infrastructure.
According to the Kalshi filing, the Copper Perp contract would be settled in cash, with no physical copper changing hands. Periodic payments between long and short traders would help keep its price aligned with the underlying copper price.
These periodic payments, structured as funding rates, require traders holding long positions to pay short holders when the perpetual derivative trades above the spot index, while short traders pay long holders when the price trades at a discount. Unlike standard futures contracts traded on major commodity exchanges like CME Group’s COMEX or the London Metal Exchange, perpetual contracts carry no fixed expiration date or requirement to roll positions into next-month contracts.
Kalshi operates as a Designated Contract Market regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, having received approval in May to offer Bitcoin perpetual futures. The platform has also filed for stock-index perpetuals, expanding its derivative offerings as copper demand rises across electric vehicles, power grid modernization, and artificial intelligence data center infrastructure.
