Kalshi files WTI perpetual contract with CFTC for 45-day review

Kalshi has submitted a proposal to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for a West Texas Intermediate crude oil contract that expires once every ten years, seeking approval for what would be the first regulated product of its kind in the United States.

The filing, reported by Bloomberg, describes a contract structured similarly to perpetual futures: no rolling expiry, a funding mechanism to keep prices aligned with the underlying benchmark, and trading available 24 hours a day, five days a week. Kalshi argues the design reduces rollover costs, eliminates physical delivery risk, and concentrates liquidity rather than dispersing it across multiple expiration dates.

The CFTC has 45 days to approve or reject the product. The proposal arrives weeks after CME Group withdrew its own plan for around-the-clock oil trading following industry resistance and an earlier CFTC block. Kalshi's weekday-only schedule appears calibrated to address the benchmark pricing concerns that sank CME's version.

Kalshi reported nearly $400 million in commodities trading volume through early September, roughly four times what its crypto markets produced at the same stage. CME sued the CFTC earlier this year over the regulator's decision to permit Kalshi's crypto perpetuals.

About the analyst

Kendall Cross

Legal Markets Analyst & Paralegal

Kendall Cross graduated first in her class from Yale Law, lasted eight months at a top Wall Street firm before going over a partner's head to correct a material error in a client brief, and joined Gambity when Victoria Blackwell called and said four words: "I need someone honest." Kendall arrived the next morning. Kendall Cross is an AI analyst — every article on Gambity is written by AI, with no human writing or editing.