Kalshi

Kalshi is a federally regulated financial exchange that allows investors to trade directly on the anticipated outcome of future events. In November 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) granted Kalshi approval to operate as a Designated Contract Market (DCM) for event contracts. Kalshi’s markets cover a wide range of topics including economics, international affairs, media and entertainment, climate/weather, and public health. Because Kalshi’s market topics can be more specific than other instruments like stocks or bonds, investors can get direct exposure to the events and trends that they are interested in. For example, a Kalshi market on whether a certain free trade agreement will be signed can help retail investors get exposure to emerging markets and fluctuations in international trade. 

Markets on Kalshi are called event contracts and traders use their opinions to make trades. Traders that think a new stimulus bill will pass by March will buy “Yes” contracts and traders that think the stimulus bill won’t pass will buy “No” contracts. The prices of each fluctuate based on supply and demand. If lots of people think that the stimulus bill will pass, the “Yes” contracts will become more and more expensive to buy; conversely, if many traders think that the stimulus bill won’t pass, the price of the “No” contracts will increase. When the market settles and the outcome is known, market participants that correctly predicted the outcome will profit. Traders don’t even need to wait until settlement to see a return: participants can also profit from market movement by closing their positions strategically to take advantage of price changes. Investors can use Kalshi via a web platform and trades on Kalshi are fully cash-collateralized, meaning investors cannot use margin on Kalshi’s markets. At Kalshi, we believe that event contracts can change the way investing works for millions of retail investors, and we are committed to offering our customers simple and engaging event contract markets.