Event Trading 101 2026: Understanding Prediction Markets & How They Work

Mike Goodpaster Head Content Writer

Fact checked by:
Jesse M. Cox Last Verified
14/04/2026

One of the main features of prediction trading exchanges like Kalshi are event predictions. As you will see below, these are a specific sub-category, where the other major genre are sports predictions.

Based on that, if you have been wondering, what is event trading? Read on as we explain the basic terminology, how event trading works, and give you some live examples that you can trade now at the top prediction exchanges. We’ll also tell you how you can get signed up at these sites.

6 key things you need to know about event trading

For this guide on what is event trading, we think the best approach is to tell you five main details about the process and what is involved.

1. It is a peer-to-peer feature

Event trading is NOT betting. The “house” is not involved, there are NO odds, and you are not making bets. Instead, this is purely a peer-to-peer feature which means that you are buying and selling trade contracts from other customers. The event trading exchange is merely the facilitator of these trades, and they take commission for each trade in the form of fees.

2. You buy, sell, and settle trade contracts

Trade contracts are the foundation of event trading. Each event prediction will have an associated range of “Yes” or “No” trade contracts. You can buy them from other customers, sell them back to other traders, or you can hold them and wait for the prediction to settle. If you hold your event trade contracts and you get the prediction right, you will get a $1 return minus any fees for each successful contract you held.

3. Your event trade contracts typically have a $1 value

At most event trading sites, event contracts have a base value of $1 each and you can buy and sell them for $1 or less. Some sites such as Crypto.com do also have $10 trading contracts, but the baseline is always usually $1.

4. Event predictions are usually a separate category

The actual event prediction category is usually one of two sub-categories, with sports being the other major option. The term “events” typically relates to real-world events for a range of different subjects, such as:

• Politics
• Economics
• Finance
• Crypto
• Geopolitics
• Culture
• Climate
• Mentions
• Elections

There is an absolute dizzying array of different event predictions and as time progresses, we’ve found that operators are adding more and more options. To give you an idea, at one of our recommended operators, there is a “Companies” category that has predictions on the value of companies from different sectors. For example, we saw some of the following predictions:

• Largest Company at the end of June?
• Which company has the best AI model at the end of June?
• Discord IPO closing market cap?
• What will SpaceX’s public ticker be?
• Which companies will be added to the S&P 500 in Q1 2026?

These are just some examples of ONE event sub-category - the best sites usually have hundreds of different predictions you can trade.

5. There are usually associated trading fees

While sportsbooks and other gambling sites have odds, event trading exchanges are something completely different, and as a result, they charge trading fees instead. It’s vital that you understand the fee structure, as this will impact your overall potential returns from buying, selling, and holding event predictions. Typical fee types include:

• Buying fees
• Selling fees
• Settling fees

6. Event prediction trading is legal in the US

If you’re asking the question, are prediction markets legal? The short answer is yes. Event trading is perfectly legal in the US provided that the operator is regulated by the Commodity and Futures Trading Commission, which all of our recommended exchanges are.

How to get started with event trading

If you want to get started with event trading, we first recommend browsing our recommended sites and looking at the different predictions they offer. You can then get an idea of what you might like to trade. After that, consider reading our separate master guide on what are prediction markets, for a more generalized look at the processes involved. Finally, when you are ready, you will need to register an account with the exchange you want to use.

Creating your prediction exchange account

As with most trading services, to actually get started trading event predictions, you need to register an account with your chosen operator. This is usually done via the following steps:

1. Click one one of our relevant links or banners.
2. Click on the sign up, register, or join button.
3. Enter any required personal info.
4. Accept T&Cs if needed.
5. Complete any initial verification.
6. Log in to your new account.
7. Make an initial deposit to gain a trading balance.

Please be aware that this is a generalized process. What you actually have to do and the steps involved can differ from exchange to exchange. In most instances though, due to regulatory requirements, you will have to complete multiple verification steps, which can include:

• Email link verification
• SMS code verification
• Completing a profile
• Completing full ID verification

The ID verification process can be the trickiest. You usually have to upload a live photo of an ID such as your passport, but also take a live selfie so that your likeness can be verified. These steps are usually non-negotiable as the exchange has to make sure that only legitimate people are accessing its event trading services.

Pros and cons of event trading at prediction exchanges

Overall, event trading offers so much. There’s superb variety, you usually get low trading fees so that buying and selling contracts still has the potential to make a return, and the best exchanges also usually have high-quality websites, and/or smartphone apps. However, we think there is a steeper learning curve, and that you will need to put more effort and research into your trading strategies if you want to try and be effective.

Live examples of event predictions you can buy and sell now

So you can get a clear idea of the differences between event prediction markets vs sportsbooks and why they are NOT the same, we’ve listed some live examples of predictions you can trade right now at top operators:

Note that these are the prices for the trade contracts at the time we wrote this event trading guide. They frequently change and could be completely different when you read the article. As you can see, similar to the variety you can find with sports prediction markets, the events category is equally as diverse and there’s usually plenty of trade volume for each market too.

Give event trading a try today with one of our recommended sites

We hope you’ve found this guide on what is event trading useful, and you now have a clear idea of how the process works and what is involved. Like sports predictions, the events side of prediction trading is incredibly flexible and offers excellent variety.

You can really get stuck into trading relating to a specific subject you are interested in such as politics, the economy, or the climate, and either try to make a return from buying or selling your contracts, or holding ones you think have a chance of successfully settling. If you want to give it a try and start trading, feel free to check out the recommendations we have on this page and then click any of the relevant links or banners to get signed up.

Explore our handpicked economic prediction sites

FAQs about event trading