KalshiEX LLC filed to self-certify its proposed US500 perpetual futures contract with the CFTC on August 18 under Regulation 40.3. The product would reference the MerQube US Large Cap Index, a broad-based index representing 500 of the largest companies listed and domiciled in the United States.
If the contract proceeds to launch, traders would be able to maintain exposure to the index without the fixed expiration dates and periodic contract rolls associated with conventional equity-index futures. The distinction matters: Kalshi has filed the product with the CFTC, but the US500 contract has not been approved or launched. The regulator has not announced a public timetable for any action on the proposal.
How US500 would work
The proposed US500 would be cash-settled and trade during the U.S. equity-index futures week, from 6 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday until 5 p.m. Friday, excluding exchange halts and maintenance periods. Unlike conventional futures, the contract would have no fixed expiration date. Instead, traders could maintain their positions without moving them into a new contract when a settlement date arrives.
US500 would also use a funding mechanism to keep its market price close to the underlying MerQube index. When the contract trades above the reference index, long-position holders would generally pay funding to short holders. If US500 trades below the index, the payment would move in the opposite direction.
Kalshi said the structure is intended to provide continuous market access while reducing some of the roll costs and calendar-related considerations associated with traditional futures. The MerQube index is calculated in real time only during regular U.S. stock-market hours. As a result, Kalshi said funding premiums would not be calculated when the index is unavailable, including overnight periods, weekends and market holidays.
Funding rate limits
The proposed funding rate would measure the difference between US500’s volume-weighted average price and the MerQube index’s time-weighted average during each minute.
These minute-level premiums would then be averaged over the funding period, with the resulting funding rate determined at 4 p.m. Eastern Time on each Index Business Day.
Kalshi has proposed a 0.002% deadband, meaning very small differences between the contract and the index would result in no funding payment. The funding rate would also be limited to a maximum magnitude of 2% in either direction.
According to Kalshi, the mechanism is intended to reflect some of the economic effects of carrying costs in traditional equity-index futures, including financing costs and dividends.
Broad index supports CFTC review
The MerQube US Large Cap Index is weighted according to float-adjusted market capitalization and is rebalanced quarterly. Kalshi highlighted the index’s broad composition in its filing as it seeks to establish that US500 is a futures contract based on a broad-based security index.
As of July 2, 2026, the largest constituent represented approximately 7.05% of the index, while the five largest companies accounted for about 25.4% combined.
Kalshi said these figures remain outside the statutory concentration thresholds used to classify an index as narrow-based.
The contracts would be centrally cleared through Kalshi Klear LLC, a CFTC-registered derivatives clearing organization. Each contract would have a $1 multiplier per index point, with a minimum tick of 0.05 points, making each minimum price movement worth $0.05 per contract.
The exchange has also proposed a $25 million position accountability level, along with price bands, order-size controls, exposure limits and automated trade surveillance.
Regulatory precedent and CME dispute
Kalshi’s proposal follows the CFTC’s May approval of its BTCPERP Bitcoin perpetual contract, which the company is using as a regulatory precedent for its latest product. The exchange argues that US500 should qualify as a futures contract because it includes standardized terms, margin requirements, central clearing and exchange-based trading.
The filing also addresses an ongoing dispute with CME Group, which has challenged the regulatory treatment of perpetual futures and argued that certain perpetual products could fall under the definition of swaps.
Kalshi disagrees with that interpretation. The exchange argues that the absence of a fixed expiration date does not automatically prevent a contract from qualifying as a futures contract under U.S. law.
The debate could become increasingly important as more U.S. exchanges explore perpetual products linked to stocks, commodities, cryptocurrencies and other markets.
Kalshi expands into derivatives
The US500 filing is part of Kalshi’s broader move into regulated financial derivatives, taking the company beyond its traditional event-based prediction markets.The exchange has also pursued additional perpetual products linked to assets such as precious metals and copper, according to industry reports.
For Kalshi, the proposed US500 would extend that model into one of the world’s most heavily traded financial markets: U.S. equities.
If launched, the product could put Kalshi into closer competition with established derivatives venues offering conventional futures linked to major U.S. stock indexes, while giving traders a perpetual structure rather than a traditional futures contract with a fixed expiration.The next major step is the CFTC’s review of the filing. Because the proposal remains subject to the applicable regulatory process, there is no certainty that US500 will launch on the proposed terms or timetable.
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