KalshiEX LLC's Aug. 18 filing for a US500 perpetual futures contract with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has been joined by a second proposal for a copper perpetual, broadening the exchange's attempt to bring a crypto-native derivatives structure into regulated equity and commodity markets. The cash-settled US500 contract would track the MerQube US Large Cap Index, while COPPERPERP would reference copper prices in dollars per pound using Pyth Network's XCU/USD feed. Both products remain unapproved and would require CFTC signoff under Regulation 40.3 before launch. Perpetual futures, or perps, differ from conventional futures because they have no fixed expiry, allowing traders to keep long or short positions open indefinitely while periodic funding payments help align the contract price with the underlying market. Researchers from Cornell University estimate that perpetual futures account for 93% of crypto derivatives trading, underscoring how central the structure has become in digital-asset markets. Economist Robert J. Shiller proposed a perpetual futures model in 1993, but the product gained broad commercial traction in crypto. Kalshi's latest filings extend an expansion that began after the CFTC approved its BTCPERP Bitcoin perpetual futures in May. Bitcoin perps launched in early June and were later followed by Ether, XRP and other crypto-assets. Kalshi now offers perpetuals across 13 cryptocurrencies, according to Cryptopolitan. The move into stock-index and copper contracts tests whether a trading format popularized in crypto can gain acceptance in traditional markets, even as CME Group continues to argue in court that some perpetual products should be treated as swaps rather than futures.