Venues / Prediction market

Prediction market live

Kalshi

Kalshi is a US prediction-market exchange regulated by the CFTC as a Designated Contract Market, where users trade event contracts on sports, politics, economics, weather and other outcomes in US dollars. It also offers perpetual futures to approved US users through its FCM, Kalshi Prime.

Cost: Prediction-market trades pay a transaction fee of roughly 0.07 x contracts x price x (1 - price), rounded up to the next cent, so the fee peaks near 50c (about 1.75c per contract) and shrinks toward 1c or 99c. Some event types carry their own schedules, and resting orders may carry maker fees in some markets. Perps cost 12 bps taker / 5 bps maker at the base tier.

Sign-up perk: Predictions: a sign-up bonus credit that varies by offer. Perps: a discount on the referee's own perps fees, rate not published.

Checked 2026-10-16 · sources below
Round trip fee
—
buy + sell, platform fee
$1,000 buy + sell
—
before network + pool fees
Fees paid, 30d
$152.9M
DefiLlama, to 2026-10-17
US availability
Partly available
UK: not available · EU: partly available
Open Kalshi

More on Kalshi: Is it legit? · Referral code · Fees

Custody
custodial
KYC
required
Platforms
web
Launched
2021-07

Users paid Kalshi about $152.9M in fees in the 30 days to 2026-10-17 (DefiLlama) — a rough measure of how much it is actually used.

Best for: US residents who want CFTC-regulated, dollar-denominated event contracts on sports, politics, economics and weather.

Kalshi fees

FeeTypeRateApplies toNote
Prediction-market trading fee platform — Buy and sell Formula 0.07 x contracts x price x (1 - price), rounded up to the next cent, as reproduced from Kalshi's fee schedule PDF by Allium (2026-09-03); the PDF itself was blocked to our fetcher. Help center confirms the fee applies to expected earnings and some markets differ.
Maker fee (some markets) platform — Buy and sell Some markets charge fees on resting orders, only when the trade executes; cancelling a resting order is free (Kalshi help center).
Perps fee platform 0.12% Buy and sell 12.0 bps taker / 5.0 bps maker on notional at open and close at Tier 0; see perps field.

Perps: taker 0.12%, maker 0.05% — Perps fees are charged on notional at open and close: 12.0 bps taker / 5.0 bps maker at Tier 0, falling to 2.6 bps / 0.6 bps at Tier 10 ($3B+ 30-day perps + prediction volume). Funding payments are separate. Source: KalshiEX CFTC filing of 2026-06-24, https://www.cftc.gov/filings/orgrules/rules0624267243.pdf

Platform fees only. On-chain network/priority fees, pool (LP) fees and price impact are extra and vary by trade.

Full Kalshi fee breakdown →

Is Kalshi legit?

Kalshi holds customer funds. Perps margin is held by Kalshi Prime, a registered FCM, in a customer-segregated account separate from Kalshi's operating funds and from the predictions balance.

Backers: Coatue (lead); Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, Paradigm ($1,000,000,000), 2026-05.

Incidents on record

  • 2026-07-23: Nevada agreement to geofence prohibited contracts. After a May 18, 2026 Nevada state-court preliminary injunction barred Kalshi from offering sports, election and entertainment contracts in Nevada, Kalshi admitted investigators could still trade them from Nevada. It agreed to third-party geofencing by August 12, 2026, with a $120,000 daily penalty until then. Source
  • 2026-07-27: Federal judge halts Minnesota prediction-market ban. US District Judge Katherine Menendez blocked Minnesota from enforcing its ban while litigation proceeds, finding the CFTC, KalshiEX and Polymarket US likely to win at least in part because designated contract markets fall under exclusive CFTC jurisdiction. Source
  • 2026-07-31: New York Attorney General sues Kalshi. New York's AG sued Kalshi, alleging illegal unlicensed gambling, betting on New York college teams and sports betting by under-21s. The suit seeks state licensing and taxes, forfeiture and nationwide restitution, with a potential penalty estimated at $36B. It does not seek to shut Kalshi down. Source

The full "is Kalshi legit?" check →

Where Kalshi is available

RegionStatus
United StatesPartly available
United KingdomNot available
European UnionPartly available

Kalshi is a CFTC-regulated DCM serving US users, but several states have contested its sports contracts. Nevada (state preliminary injunction May 2026, geofencing agreement July 2026), Massachusetts (Superior Court preliminary injunction on sports markets, January 2026) and Washington (King County preliminary injunction, July 2026) restrict some contracts. New York, Michigan and Wisconsin suits are pending, an Ohio federal ruling went against Kalshi, while federal courts sided with Kalshi in Arizona and Minnesota. Kalshi's help center says users in many countries can trade subject to its Member Agreement, which we could not read directly (the PDF blocks automated fetches). Third-party reporting of Member Agreement v1.6 lists the United Kingdom as restricted, plus Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland and Portugal in the EU; other EU states such as Germany, the Netherlands and Spain are not on that list. UK and EU statuses are therefore second-hand and may have changed. Perps are open only to approved US users. (source)

We report what the venue's own terms say. Don't use a VPN to get around restrictions; venues can freeze accounts that do.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Regulated by the CFTC as a Designated Contract Market since November 2020.
  • Perps margin is held by an FCM in a customer-segregated account, and perps balances are walled off from predictions balances.
  • Federal courts in Minnesota and Arizona have sided with Kalshi on CFTC preemption.
  • Supports US dollar deposits, and international users can fund by debit card, wire or crypto.

Cons

  • Sports contracts are restricted or under injunction in Nevada, Massachusetts and Washington, and New York's AG is suing.
  • Full KYC with a government photo ID is required for every user.
  • Referral bonus amounts vary by offer and are not published as a fixed rate.
  • Perps are open only to approved US users and cost 12 bps taker at the base tier on each side.

Features

prediction marketssports contractscombosperpsorder bookliquidity incentivesmarket maker programAPIFIXsocial feedmobile appfiat depositscrypto depositsinterest on balances

Alternatives to Kalshi

Polymarket

Traders who want order-book prediction markets on politics, sports, crypto and world events, through the international site or the CFTC-regulated US app.

Head to head

Where Kalshi ranks

Kalshi FAQ

Is Kalshi legit?

Kalshi is a CFTC-regulated Designated Contract Market, designated in November 2020, and raised $1B at a $22B valuation in May 2026. Several states dispute its sports contracts: Nevada, Massachusetts and Washington courts have restricted them, and New York's attorney general sued in July 2026.

Is Kalshi legal in my state?

Kalshi operates under federal CFTC oversight, but some states restrict its sports contracts. Nevada requires geofencing of sports, election and entertainment contracts, and Massachusetts and Washington have preliminary injunctions. A federal judge halted Minnesota's ban in July 2026.

Can I use Kalshi outside the US?

Kalshi says users can trade from many countries, subject to its Member Agreement. Third-party reporting says that agreement lists the UK, France, Italy, Poland and four other EU states as restricted. International users can deposit by debit card, wire (minimum $1,000) or crypto, not ACH, PayPal or Venmo.

What are Kalshi's perps fees?

Perps fees are charged on notional value at both open and close: 12 bps taker and 5 bps maker at the base tier, falling to 2.6 bps and 0.6 bps above $3B in 30-day volume. Funding payments are separate from fees.

What are Kalshi's trading fees on predictions?

Kalshi charges roughly 0.07 x contracts x price x (1 - price), rounded up to the next cent, so fees peak near 50 cents. Some markets use different schedules or add maker fees. Check the in-app fee icon before trading.

Sources

Last checked . Fees and terms change often; the venue's own page wins if it disagrees with ours.

  1. Kalshi Help: How is Kalshi regulated? — checked 2026-10-16
  2. Kalshi Help: Fees — checked 2026-10-16
  3. Kalshi Help: Perps Fees Explained — checked 2026-10-16
  4. KalshiEX CFTC filing: Exchange Fee Schedule (Perpetual Futures Contracts), 2026-06-24 — checked 2026-10-16
  5. Kalshi Help: Applying for Perpetuals Access — checked 2026-10-16
  6. Kalshi Help: Your Perpetuals Margin Account — checked 2026-10-16
  7. Kalshi Help: Referral Program FAQ — checked 2026-10-16
  8. Kalshi Help: Perps Promotions, Bonuses & Credits — checked 2026-10-16
  9. Kalshi Help: Can I trade on Kalshi from outside the United States? — checked 2026-10-16
  10. Kalshi Help: Account verification requirements — checked 2026-10-16
  11. Wikipedia: Kalshi (founding, DCM designation, state litigation summary) — checked 2026-10-16
  12. TechCrunch: Kalshi doubles valuation to $22 billion (2026-05-07) — checked 2026-10-16
  13. Public Gaming: Nevada Gaming Control Board agreement with Kalshi (2026-07-24) — checked 2026-10-16
  14. MPR News: Minnesota ban put on hold by federal judge (2026-07-27) — checked 2026-10-16
  15. ABC7 NY: New York sues Kalshi (2026-07-31) — checked 2026-10-16
  16. Mass.gov: AG secures court order blocking Kalshi sports wagers (cited via Wikipedia; direct fetch returned 403) — checked 2026-10-16
  17. CoinPerps - Kalshi restricted countries (Member Agreement v1.6, third-party) — checked 2026-10-16
  18. Allium - Kalshi fees (reproduces fee schedule, 2026-09-03) — checked 2026-10-16