Kalshi Launches Gold and Silver Perpetual Futures After CFTC Approval — First Non-Crypto Perps Cleared in the US
Kalshi launched perpetual futures on gold and silver on September 10 after the CFTC approved the contracts — making them the first non-cryptocurrency perpetual futures to receive US regulatory clearance. The contracts are cash-settled, never expire, and trade 24/7 using Pyth Network price feeds. Kalshi simultaneously has pending applications for perpetual futures on US equities, copper, and currencies. Since receiving CFTC approval for crypto perpetual futures in late May, Kalshi has done $44 billion in notional volume on those contracts. The gold and silver launches represent Kalshi's most direct competitive move yet against the CME and COMEX as established US commodity exchanges.
Kalshi launched perpetual futures contracts on gold and silver on September 10, 2026, following CFTC approval of the contracts — the first time the US commodities regulator has cleared perpetual futures on a physical commodity, a contract type that has been available internationally on crypto exchanges since BitMEX introduced it in 2016. The contracts are cash-settled with no expiration date, trade 24 hours a day including weekends and holidays, and use Pyth Network for real-time pricing. No physical delivery of gold or silver is involved. Kalshi originally filed the self-certification applications with the CFTC in July; the approval and launch on September 10 reflects the standard CFTC review window for new contract types on an existing registered DCM. The contracts join Kalshi's existing crypto perpetual futures, which have generated $44 billion in notional volume since receiving CFTC clearance in late May — a figure that reflects the scale of demand for 24/7 derivatives access that existing US exchanges do not provide on weekends and holidays.
The competitive significance is directed at the CME Group and COMEX, the dominant US venues for gold and silver futures. CME's standard gold futures contract (GC) is the global benchmark and settles in physical gold; COMEX mini-gold and E-mini contracts offer smaller-denomination access. All CME/COMEX contracts have expiration dates and do not trade around the clock. Kalshi's perpetual format removes the expiration and rolling management that active futures traders deal with — a product simplification that appeals to a different user profile than institutional CME traders. Kalshi's funding rate mechanism, which periodically transfers payments between long and short positions to keep the perpetual price close to spot, is the same infrastructure crypto perp exchanges use and will be familiar to the growing cohort of retail and semi-institutional traders who have used perpetuals in crypto. Whether that overlap between crypto-native traders and gold/silver market participants is large enough to generate meaningful volume against CME's liquidity depth is the commercial question the launch tests.
Kalshi's pending filings extend well beyond gold and silver. The platform submitted applications in August 2026 for perpetual futures on US equities, the industrial metal copper, and foreign currencies. If CFTC approves single-stock perpetual futures — a product that does not exist in any regulated US venue — Kalshi would enter direct competition with the options market, stock lending desks, and CFD providers for leveraged directional exposure to individual companies. The implications for the broader market structure are significant: single-stock perps on a CFTC-regulated exchange would be accessible to retail traders without the pattern day trading rules that govern margin equity accounts, the complexities of options pricing, or the offshore counterparty risk of CFD providers. Whether the CFTC approves single-stock perps given their potential for concentrated manipulation risk is not certain; the agency has historically been cautious about contracts that could affect underlying equity markets.
The trajectory Kalshi is following in 2026 — binary event contracts, commodity event contracts, crypto perpetuals, now gold/silver perps, then equities, currencies, copper — is the trajectory of a financial exchange, not a prediction market platform. The platform's legal identity as a CFTC-registered designated contract market has always implied this: a DCM license permits listing financial derivatives of all kinds, not only binary event contracts. The prediction market brand and sports/election contracts that drove Kalshi's growth in 2025-2026 now represent one product vertical within a business that is building toward full-service derivatives exchange capabilities. The litigation across a dozen states over sports event contracts, while still unresolved, is being prosecuted in parallel with a product roadmap that doesn't depend on winning that litigation: a Kalshi that processes $44 billion in crypto perps and hundreds of millions in commodity contracts can sustain its business even if sports event contracts are restricted in multiple states.
Operators mentioned in this article
Recent updates
Utah Files Felony Charges Against Kalshi and Its Founders — Second State to Criminally Charge a Platform
Utah filed criminal charges against Kalshi and its two co-founders, Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, on October 28 — 13 felonies and a misdemeanor, including a second-degree 'pattern of unlawful criminal activity' count and 12 counts of online gambling promotion. The charges stem from a September sting in which an undercover agent placed 12 sports wagers verified to be in Utah. The CFTC sued Utah the day before to block state enforcement, its tenth such suit. Utah is the second state after Arizona to criminally charge Kalshi, and the first to charge the founders personally. Kalshi called it a 'crazy overreach.'
NBA Names Kalshi and Polymarket Preferred Exchanges — Leaving the NFL Alone in Opposition
The NBA announced on October 26 that it has named Kalshi and Polymarket its 'preferred prediction market exchanges,' signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with the CFTC on basketball integrity, and expanded its DraftKings deal to include prediction markets — the first league to extend a sportsbook partnership into the category. The exchange deals bar league and team personnel from trading NBA contracts, limit permissible markets, and require sharing of suspicious-trading data, in exchange for NBA intellectual property and official data. The NBA joins MLB, the NHL, and MLS as partnered leagues, leaving the NFL as the lone major holdout — and the only league fighting the platforms in court.
CFTC Chair Says Agency Is Watching Prediction Markets for Manipulation Ahead of Midterms
CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said on October 23 that the agency is closely monitoring prediction markets for manipulation ahead of the November 3 midterms, and that it is separately scrutinizing oil market trading tied to President Trump's announcements about the war in Iran. Combined midterm open interest on Kalshi and Polymarket stood at $250 million as of October 18, with Kalshi holding 84%. Selig acknowledged the agency often catches political figures attempting to trade 'oftentimes after the fact.' The remarks highlight the CFTC's dual and somewhat conflicting role as both the platforms' federal protector and their manipulation watchdog, at a time when the agency has shed enforcement staff.