Kalshi is making another major move beyond prediction markets, filing with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to launch perpetual futures tied to the price of copper as the company expands deeper into traditional derivatives markets.
The proposed COPPERPERP contract would allow traders to speculate on copper prices through a futures contract that never expires, bringing a trading structure popularized by cryptocurrency markets to one of the world’s most important industrial commodities.
The filing comes just months after the CFTC approved Kalshi’s Bitcoin perpetual futures product, signaling that the company increasingly sees itself as more than a platform for betting on elections, sports and real-world events.
Kalshi Files for a Copper Perpetual Future
Kalshi submitted the new contract to the CFTC on August 18.
The proposed COPPERPERP would track the spot price of copper measured in U.S. dollars per pound. Instead of creating its own copper benchmark, Kalshi plans to use pricing data supplied by Pyth Network.
Pyth aggregates market data from exchanges, market makers and other financial institutions and distributes that information through blockchain-based infrastructure.
Some of the most important features of Kalshi’s proposed copper contract include:
- No expiration date
- Copper priced in U.S. dollars per pound
- Price data provided through Pyth Network
- Cash settlement, meaning traders will not receive physical copper
- Periodic payments between long and short traders designed to keep the contract aligned with the underlying copper price
If approved, traders could maintain exposure to copper without repeatedly rolling their positions into new futures contracts as expiration dates approach.
Crypto’s Perpetual Futures Model Is Moving Into Commodities
Perpetual futures, commonly called perps, have become one of the largest trading products in cryptocurrency markets.
Unlike conventional futures contracts, which expire on predetermined dates, perpetual futures can remain open indefinitely.
A funding mechanism involving periodic payments between traders helps keep the perpetual contract’s price close to the underlying asset.
That structure has become enormously popular for trading cryptocurrencies because it gives traders continuous exposure without requiring them to repeatedly purchase new contracts.
Kalshi is now attempting to bring that same model into traditional commodity markets.
Why Copper Is an Important Market
Copper is much more than another tradable commodity.
The metal is critical to several of the world’s fastest-growing industries, including:
- Artificial intelligence data centers
- Electric vehicles
- Power grids
- Renewable energy infrastructure
- Electronics
- Construction
- Industrial manufacturing
The rapid expansion of AI infrastructure has made copper particularly important because data centers require enormous amounts of electrical equipment, power transmission infrastructure and cooling systems.
Copper futures are already heavily traded through established markets including CME Group’s COMEX, the London Metal Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange.
Kalshi would be introducing a substantially different contract structure into that established market.
Kalshi Is Rapidly Expanding Its Perpetual Futures Business
Copper is only the latest market Kalshi wants to bring into its growing derivatives business.
In May, the CFTC approved Kalshi’s Bitcoin perpetual futures contract, allowing the company to introduce one of the first truly perpetual futures products within the regulated U.S. market.
Kalshi subsequently moved to certify perpetual futures tied to several additional cryptocurrencies, including:
- Ethereum
- Solana
- XRP
- Chainlink
- Sui
The company has also pursued perpetual contracts tied to stock indexes.
The expansion shows Kalshi moving toward becoming a broader derivatives exchange rather than remaining exclusively focused on prediction markets.
Kalshi Faces Competition From Coinbase and Polymarket
Kalshi is not alone in chasing the U.S. perpetual futures market.
The CFTC also cleared Coinbase in May to provide U.S. customers access to global crypto perpetual futures through Deribit, which Coinbase acquired for $2.9 billion.
Polymarket has also announced plans to enter perpetual futures, referencing potential markets tied to companies including Nvidia and Coinbase, along with commodities such as gold and silver.
The competition suggests that prediction markets, cryptocurrency exchanges and traditional derivatives markets are beginning to overlap.
Products originally associated almost entirely with offshore cryptocurrency trading platforms are increasingly being adapted for regulated U.S. markets.
Kalshi’s Expansion Comes During Regulatory Battles
The copper filing arrives as Kalshi continues facing legal challenges surrounding another major part of its business.
A Washington state judge recently ordered the company to stop offering contracts involving sports, elections, politics and other events within the state.
At the same time, traditional derivatives giant CME Group is challenging the CFTC’s approval of Kalshi’s perpetual futures.
CME sued the regulator in June, arguing that Kalshi’s perpetual products should legally be classified as swaps rather than futures. The distinction could significantly affect how the products are regulated and where they can trade.
The dispute has become part of a larger debate over whether perpetual futures should be brought into regulated American markets.
Wall Street Traders Are Pushing for More U.S. Perps
Support for expanding perpetual futures is also emerging from traditional finance.
Don Wilson, founder of high-speed trading firm DRW, told the CFTC’s Innovation Advisory Committee that perpetual futures could be valuable risk-management tools and encouraged regulators to approve them across a broader range of assets, including contracts linked to individual stocks.
Wilson argued that preventing these products from operating within regulated U.S. markets could simply push trading offshore.
That debate mirrors what has already happened in crypto, where perpetual futures became enormously popular on offshore exchanges and decentralized platforms while U.S. traders faced more limited access.
Kalshi Is Becoming More Than a Prediction Market
Kalshi built its reputation around event contracts that allow users to trade on outcomes ranging from elections and economic data to sports.
Its expansion into Bitcoin, altcoins, stock indexes and now copper suggests a much larger ambition.
The company increasingly appears to be positioning itself as a next-generation regulated derivatives exchange capable of offering both prediction markets and financial products traditionally associated with futures exchanges and crypto trading platforms.
Copper could be an especially important test.
Unlike Bitcoin, perpetual futures tied to copper would bring a crypto-native trading structure directly into a massive traditional commodity market.
If the CFTC approves COPPERPERP and similar products continue expanding, perpetual futures may no longer be viewed primarily as a crypto trading innovation. They could become a much broader part of regulated U.S. financial markets.
