Kalshi Files Proposal for Never-Expiring Oil Contract With CFTC

Kalshi Inc. has filed a proposal for an oil-linked futures contract that never expires with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, according to the company.

If approved, the contract, tied to the West Texas Intermediate benchmark, would be the first crude-linked perpetual future to trade on a regulated US platform. The CFTC has 45 days to approve or disallow the product. Perpetual futures, known as perps, can’t be self-certified by exchanges like other event contracts, given the regulatory scrutiny surrounding them.

The development is part of a broader effort to make real-world assets easier to trade. The Iran war has turbocharged demand from both institutional and individual speculators seeking to profit from volatile commodity prices. Oil markets in particular have seen dramatic price swings, with West Texas Intermediate futures trading across a roughly $60 a barrel range since the start of the year.

The filing also reinforces Kalshi’s push into oil as competing efforts to expand trading in US-regulated markets hit a major roadblock.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Friday announced that it was shelving plans to launch a round-the-clock oil contract following industry pushback. The bid was initially blocked by the CFTC and kicked off a months-long review of whether weekend trading is compatible with the physical oil market, which needs reliable benchmark pricing to sell cargoes.

CME’s now-withdrawn contract would’ve traded nonstop, while remaining anchored to the expiration cycle of traditional oil markets. Kalshi’s product, by contrast, is aiming to trade 24 hours a day, five days a week — but never expire. CME leadership has been vocal about its disapproval of perps, even suing the CFTC for allowing Kalshi to offer crypto-linked versions of the derivative earlier this year.

Kalshi’s 24/5 structure was designed to address regulatory concerns highlighted by the trading community, Bloomberg reported earlier.

Commodities markets on Kalshi were near $400 million in trading volume as of early September, almost four times what crypto markets saw at the same point in their lifecycle, according to the prediction market.