KALSHI RAISES $185M, HITS $2B VALUATION IN BIG BET ON PREDICTION MARKETS

- Kalshi, a federally regulated crypto prediction market, secured $185 million in fresh funding, according to The WallStreet Journal.

- The round pushes its valuation to $2 billion, showing a vote of confidence from top-tier investors.

- Led by crypto-focused firm Paradigm, the raise also included heavyweights like Sequoia Capital, Multicoin Capital, Bond Capital, and Citadel Securities CEO Peng Zhao.

- The funds will be used to scale Kalshi’s engineering team and integrate contracts more deeply into brokerages like Robinhood and Webull.

- Kalshi lets users trade on outcomes of real-world events—elections, weather, sports, and economic indicators.

- CEO Tarek Mansour said this new capital will help them “build the core infrastructure for a new asset class.”

A REGULATORY EDGE OVER POLYMARKET

- Unlike Polymarket, which remains banned for U.S. users, Kalshi is fully regulated by the CFTC.

- This legal clarity gives it access to the massive American retail market and a distinct edge in the race to dominate the sector.

- Prediction markets gained visibility during the 2024 U.S. election cycle. With investor interest now rising, these platforms are being taken more seriously as tools for gauging public sentiment.

- Kalshi recently resolved a legal dispute with the CFTC over political contracts. The agency dropped its appeal in May, removing a major hurdle to broader adoption.

- While sports events make up the bulk of Kalshi’s current volume, the firm is expanding its reach into crypto, weather, macroeconomics, and geopolitics.

- As Paradigm’s Matt Huang put it, “Prediction markets are like crypto 15 years ago: a new asset class on its way to trillions.”