Is Kalshi legal in the US?
From my findings, Kalshi is legal in the United States, but there are some caveats to know. The brand offers a prediction market service and is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a Designated Contract Market (DCM). Kalshi isn’t a traditional sportsbook, so it’s not subject to state-level licensing.
I confirmed that only traders 18 years old or older can register and use Kalshi. Also, the site may require you to submit identification documents to verify your account before trading. All these are signs of a legit prediction market brand.
Now, whether you can actually trade event contracts on Kalshi or not depends on your region. The website clearly states that it’s your individual responsibility, so I advise reviewing your local laws to confirm.
How do Kalshi event contracts work?
Event contracts on Kalshi are displayed in Yes/No formats, and they’re pretty simple. If you’re in support of an outcome, you select Yes; otherwise, you select No. The contract price typically sits between $0.01 and $0.99, and it reflects the market position.
On Kalshi, I saw an event priced at $0.10 for Yes and $0.91 for No. Simply put, about 10% of the market believes the event will happen, while the rest think it won’t. The prices show different sides of the book, so they may not add up to $1 at the same moment. Also, the system is peer-to-peer (P2P), so if you’re buying, someone else must be actively selling.
As market trends change, so does the price. For instance, I observed the $0.10 Yes event contract increase to $0.30 when more traders began purchasing it. I must emphasize that Kalshi doesn’t set the rates. The site only matches buyers and sellers and takes commissions.
A Kalshi event contract pays out $1 if correct and $0 if not. I once bought 50 Yes contracts for a sports event at $0.70 each, totaling $35. The outcome went as planned, so I received a $50 payout, meaning a $15 profit.
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Kalshi sports prediction markets
Sports is Kalshi’s most popular prediction market category in the US. I counted 15+ sports on the site, including basketball, football, baseball, hockey, soccer, golf, boxing, and more. That means you can trade events in the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, and more. I was particularly impressed to see esports options during my Kalshi review.
Sports markets
The exact markets available for Kalshi sports predictions vary by niche. Nevertheless, I saw all major prediction options for popular US sports like the NBA, NFL, and MLB. Take basketball, for instance. Kalshi lists game winner, spread, totals, and props in a Yes/No event contract format.
On Kalshi, I also spotted future markets for predicting competition and individual award winners. For instance, NFL futures cover the NFC and AFC Championship winners, the MVP, Offensive Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, and more.
Live sports predictions
Kalshi lets you trade sports event contracts as they happen in real time. To access these options, tap the LIVE button on the top menu. I also found popular US sports in the live category, but the exact games you see depend on what’s active at that moment.
From my observations, contract prices for live sports events are highly volatile. I expected it anyway, since traders are reacting to real-time results. The point is that if you want to engage in live sports prediction markets on Kalshi, you have to be quick with your trades.
Politics prediction markets on Kalshi
Many US traders prefer political predictions, and Kalshi offers expansive markets in this category. The events I found are not just in the US, but also in other countries. One fact I know is that if there’s any significant political happening, Kalshi will list it. Let’s take a closer look at some of the main areas to expect.
Congress
Kalshi lets you speculate on actions and decisions by the US Congress. For instance, I saw events about how long the government shutdown will last, when DHS will receive funding, and who’ll be confirmed as Fed Chair by the Senate.
The contracts you can trade vary depending on the event type. To illustrate, an event about whether a single act will become law has just two possible outcomes: Yes or No. Meanwhile, the event for who’ll become Fed Chair had four potential candidates, though each one still has individual Yes or No contracts.
Elections
On Kalshi, you see separate sections for US and foreign elections. I checked the US elections category first in my review and found events at different government levels. These include presidential, senatorial, gubernatorial, and mayoral elections. Also, the Kalshi election predictions cover primaries and party nominees.
Switching to foreign elections, the featured events are still extensive. I traded contracts on elections happening in Brazil, Colombia, Sweden, New Zealand, Hungary, the UK, Scotland, and many other countries.
International relations
Prediction markets in this category mainly revolve around US and global political figures. For instance, I found events in countries the US president will visit, whether he’ll acquire new territory, or raise tariff rates on specific countries. Regarding global political figures, Kalshi has similar events for leaders in Russia, Brazil, the UK, and North Korea, to name a few.
Trading Kalshi’s culture event contracts
If you’re into culture, Kalshi is still a reliable prediction market site. The brand features events about awards, music, movies, television, video games, and more. I’ve shared my experience with them below.
Awards
Based on my Kalshi prediction markets review, Awards is the leading subcategory under Culture. It’s understandable, since the page covers major awards in the entertainment industry, both in music and movies. The majority I spotted were Grammys and Oscars, but you can also expect others like TIME’s Person of the Year and iHeartRadio Music Awards.
Music, movies, and television
All three I grouped are actually separate on Kalshi. However, they have similar event contracts, as you’ll be predicting how songs, movies, or TV shows will perform. Examples include trading event contracts on the top song on Spotify USA each day and the top US Netflix show each week.
My favorite events, however, are Rotten Tomatoes scores. It applies to movies, as Kalshi lets you predict how viewers will rate each release on the popular review-aggregation site.
Video games
Another notable culture prediction category on Kalshi is Video Games. Here, you’re speculating on several potential outcomes related to video game releases, performance, designs, and awards.
To illustrate, I traded events on the GTA 6 release date, which has been a long-debated topic among video gamers. I also bought Yes contracts for Grand Theft Auto VI to win the Game of the Year at The Game Awards.
Kalshi’s crypto market predictions
I follow the digital currency industry a lot, so I was hyped to see crypto prediction markets on Kalshi. The site features top cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Ripple, Dogecoin, and Tether. If a smaller token is moving the market, it’ll also show up on Kalshi.
Price predictions
Most crypto event contracts on Kalshi involve predicting prices. From my checks, the events can be set to occur every 15 minutes, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, or annually.
The 15-minute events are about whether the price of a specific cryptocurrency will go up or down. I found them volatile, so I traded more on hourly and daily outcomes, which involve predicting prices at wider intervals.
You can also trade on one-time crypto price outcomes on Kalshi, which I consider safer. Examples include predicting whether BTC will hit $150,000 or the lowest ETH will reach for the year. Such contracts take longer to settle, so you have more room to speculate.
Pre-market
The pre-market category lets you predict actions by major companies in the crypto industry. A trending event I saw was which brand will launch a token within the year. It featured popular names like MetaMask, Base, Phantom, Rainbow, and OpenSea.
General predictions
On Kalshi, I also found some general yet interesting crypto market predictions. The one that caught my attention the most is this: Will Satoshi move any Bitcoin by next year? Yes was priced at $0.07, meaning only 7% of traders backed the outcome to happen. It’s expected because the wallet linked to Satoshi hasn’t made any transactions in over 15 years.
Another general crypto event on Kalshi was to predict whether BTC will have its next halving before next year. The market was more balanced, with contracts for Yes and No selling for $0.52 and $0.56, respectively. Both add up to $1.08 instead of $1 because of Kalshi’s ask spreads and order book conditions.
Economics prediction markets at Kalshi
When you visit Kalshi’s economics prediction markets section, you’ll see nine different categories. Among them are everyday concerns such as employment, GDP, housing, inflation, and oil. Below are the prediction markets I tested while making this Kalshi review.
💼 Employment, jobs & economy
Based on my estimates, employment events are the most numerous on Kalshi for economics. The site offers contracts on predicting unemployment rates, layoffs, and jobless claims. Interestingly, the region isn’t just the US, but also other countries like France, Germany, Russia, Brazil, and Mexico.
Switching to the jobs & economy section, I saw more precise events for trading. Examples include predicting AI-linked job losses on a particular day, US non-farm productivity, and TSA average check-ins for a specific timeframe.
🏦 Fed and GDP
From the description, I already knew what to expect in these economics sections. Fed offers events to speculate on Fed decisions, rate cuts, and rate hikes. Similar to the previous categories I explained, the options go beyond the US. I saw federal decisions in the European Union, Russia, Australia, England, and several other countries.
GDP events are more specific to the United States. The markets aren’t that extensive, as I only found contracts on federal deficit-to-GDP at the time of my review.
🏠 Housing and inflation
If you want to predict mortgage rates, home sales, rent freezes, and others, check Kalshi’s housing event contracts. In my review, I observed that the events are mainly federal, but there are city-based outcomes for popular places like Boston, Denver, New York, and Houston.
The inflation section lets you trade contracts for how high or low the rate will be in different months or the entire year. I also spotted prediction markets for simple stuff like egg and fertilizer prices.
🛢️ Oil and energy
In this section, you’re looking at gas prices, solar capacity, oil production, exports, and similar outcomes. I bought five Yes contracts for US gas prices to go above $3.730 for the week of my review at $0.72 each. The prediction didn’t hold up well, and I ended up selling when the contract price dropped to $0.65 before the week was over.
Kalshi climate event contracts
Kalshi does a good job with its climate prediction markets, as the brand lists significant events. Check out what I found below.
Climate change and daily temperature
You can trade contracts on events, whether the temperature will be hottest or coldest within a month or a year. Of course, the options will depend on the current season. For instance, you’ll see more cold-temperature-related predictions during winter.
The most interesting outcomes for me are those about countries meeting their climate-goal targets. I saw them for the US, EU, and India on Kalshi, and some extend for as far as 2030. Therefore, they’re ideal long-term event contracts.
Natural disasters
This category is where you predict events such as tornadoes, tropical storms, and hurricanes. Sure, nobody wants these to happen, but they’re natural disasters we can’t control. I traded a few contracts for the number of tornadoes in a month, the number of Atlantic hurricanes for the year, and annual tropical storms.
Snow and rain
In my opinion, snow and rain are the simplest climate predictions on Kalshi. As you’d expect, they involve predicting snow or rainfall in different regions, and the events are daily or monthly. Some notable cities I saw include New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Denver, and Houston.
If you’ll be trading snow and rain event contracts, I advise focusing on your city if featured. However, if you want to predict happenings in other places, take your time to research climate news.
Making payments and withdrawing from Kalshi
As a legit prediction market brand, Kalshi features only safe payment methods. For deposits, I saw Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Venmo, bank transfer, and crypto options. Apple Pay and Google Pay are also available under the debit card option.
Kalshi allows a $1 minimum deposit, which is one of the lowest I’ve seen on any prediction market site. Deposits are instant, but bank transfer payments may take 1-3 days to reflect in your account. Also, a 2% fee applies for debit card deposits, while crypto transactions incur the usual network and gas fees.
Kalshi payouts
From what I found, the minimum withdrawal at Kalshi varies by payment method. I cashed out as little as $5 using my debit card on the site. In contrast, wire transfer payouts are only possible for $500 and higher.
Kalshi has relatively quick withdrawal times, except for bank transfers that take a few business days. My debit card payouts arrive within 30 minutes, and the same applies to cryptocurrencies. Extra delays only occur due to verification checks or on the part of the payment processors.
Using Kalshi on desktop and mobile
If you ask me, Kalshi is an uncomplicated prediction market site. You can easily trade on the website from a desktop or mobile device, thanks to its minimalist interface and largely white backdrop. The top section lists all prediction markets horizontally, so you can access categories with a single click.
For the smoothest trading experience, install the Kalshi app. I tested it on my Android and iOS smartphones during this Kalshi review, and it made a significant difference, especially for live prediction markets. I received push notifications to stay updated, and the app adjusts to dark/light mode based on my device settings.
Getting help from the Kalshi support team
Kalshi offers support via live chat and email, which are the two channels I expected. The customer service team is available 24/7, and I often get replies within minutes via live chat. I noticed that you’ll receive better assistance when logged in, and sometimes, you can’t send a message when signed out.
If you’re dealing with a more complex issue, I suggest sending a detailed message via email. Replies may take some hours, but the agents will provide a resolution. On the Kalshi site, there’s also a help center and FAQ page you can visit for regular questions and guides.
Kalshi prediction market promotions and rewards
Upon registering with Kalshi, you can claim a $10 bonus. I got the offer after depositing and trading $10 on event contracts in any prediction market. Don’t worry about finding a Kalshi promo code because you won’t need one.
Furthermore, Kalshi has volume and liquidity incentive programs. These schemes reward you for your trading activity, and the bonuses are added as cashback. They have expiry dates, so check the exact details for the available promos when you sign up.
Kalshi is a complete and reliable prediction market hub
I describe Kalshi as complete because it covers all the main prediction markets that interest US traders. As detailed in this Kalshi review, the site lists 15+ sports with major markets and support for live trading. Besides that, there are US and foreign political events and contracts to predict crypto, culture, economics, and climate-related outcomes.
Kalshi also scores high when you look beyond the prediction markets. You deposit using secure methods, and payouts are relatively fast, arriving within 30 minutes for most options. The 2% debit card deposit fee is a drawback for me, but it’s manageable.
I also applaud Kalshi for its undemanding desktop interface and optimized mobile app. Not to mention, the customer service team is available 24/7 to assist with any issues. If you want a dependable US prediction market site, Kalshi works. You can click the banners on this page to visit the site and register to get started.
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Kalshi review FAQs
⁉️ What does Kalshi do?
Kalshi is a prediction market app where you buy and sell contracts based on real-world events. The brand features events relating to sports, politics, culture, crypto, economics, climate, and others.
🏻💼 Who is the CEO of Kalshi?
The CEO of Kalshi is Tarek Mansour, who is also a co-founder of the prediction market company. He’s a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) graduate who studied Computer Science and Mathematics.
Does Kalshi offer sports betting?
No, Kalshi doesn’t offer sports betting, as the site isn’t a traditional sportsbook that uses fixed odds. Instead, Kalshi provides prediction markets that let you trade outcomes in sports events in a P2P system. The site covers events in the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, and more.
🇸 Is Kalshi available in the USA?
Yes, Kalshi is available in the USA, as it’s regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a Designated Contract Market (DCM). However, you have to check your local laws to know if you can use the prediction market app.
How fast does Kalshi pay out?
Kalshi’s payout time depends on your selected payment method. It’s less than 30 minutes with cryptocurrency and debit cards, while bank transfers take a few business days.
