Overview
- Kalshi is reported to be preparing a formal filing with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for a perpetual contract tied to West Texas Intermediate, and the application could be submitted the week of September 8 according to coverage from September 2.
- A perpetual futures contract never expires and typically uses periodic funding payments between long and short holders to keep the contract price close to a chosen reference price rather than relying on monthly expiries.
- The CFTC will review any Kalshi submission under Regulation 40.3 after closing a public comment period on energy perpetuals, meaning approval would be assessed case by case rather than by broad rule changes.
- CME Group has publicly objected to the agency’s earlier perpetual approvals and has launched legal challenges, creating a material regulatory and courtroom overhang that could affect whether or how a WTI perpetual is allowed to trade.
- Kalshi’s Bitcoin perpetual set a regulatory precedent and offshore venues already offer oil perps, so the key tests for a US-regulated WTI perpetual will be the chosen price source, funding cadence, trading hours, margin and liquidation rules, and how reliably the contract tracks physical WTI during stress.