Kalshi launches ‘perps’ for gold and silver following CFTC approval, expanding futures offerings

Kalshi has secured regulatory approval to introduce perpetual futures contracts for gold and silver in the United States, marking a significant expansion of its derivative trading portfolio beyond prediction markets.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal regulator of derivatives markets, granted permission for these perpetual contracts this week, shortly after initial applications were submitted in July.

These innovative markets officially opened on Thursday on the Kalshi platform.

Building on its pioneering work with cryptocurrency‑derived perps—approved earlier this year—Kalshi capitalized on growing investor interest. The firm had previously obtained approval for Bitcoin‑focused perpetual futures in May 2025, introducing a speculative asset valued at more than $90 trillion in annual trade volume when brought onto U.S. exchanges last year. To date, those crypto‑adjacent contracts have generated $44 billion in notional through trading.

Ushidh Jha, chief risk officer of Kalshi Klear—the platform’s centralized clearinghouse—explained that the move to add precious‑metal perps stemmed from strong market demand for commodities.

“Metals such as gold and silver appear poised to deliver meaningful returns amid ongoing inflationary pressures,” Jha elaborated.

Trade activity across Kalshi’s broader commodity event contracts—including base metals, energy futures, and other minerals—has surged past $400 million within a seven‑month window, the company reported Tuesday. This represents half the time it took its prior crypto‑event contracts to achieve the same volume benchmark.

Perpetual futures—commonly referred to as “perps”—are margin‑backed contracts that lack both physical delivery and fixed expirations. Market prices remain aligned with reference assets through continuous funding or leveraged margin cycles, allowing immediate settlement without the necessity to hold underlying securities.

In addition to perps covering fine metals, Kalshi is pursuing approvals for U.S. equity indices, industrial copper, and key foreign currencies scheduled for August. The CFTC’s green light on precious‑metal perps constitutes the first non‑cryptocurrency derivative offering cleared at this level, signaling a diversified growth path.

Legacy venues such as the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and the Comsec Group (CME) saw their stocks tumble on fears that the new futures type could disrupt their existing business models, with CBOE appearing as CBOE and CME Group.

Regulated status proved decisive. As Jha noted, “Successful execution requires rigorous risk controls—a methodology unheard of among unregulated platforms.”

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