Kalshi is the largest US-regulated prediction market. It’s licensed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a designated contract market, the same category as the big futures exchanges, and lets you trade yes/no contracts on sports, elections, the economy, weather, culture and more. You fund it in US dollars like a brokerage account, and since late 2025 it has also been available in well over 100 other countries.
This profile covers how Kalshi works, its fees, deposits and withdrawals, where it’s available, its legal fights and its pros and cons. New to it? Read What is Kalshi? first.
What’s trading on Kalshi right now
Kalshi: most traded
Latest price for “Yes”, shown as an implied chance. Polymarket volume in USD, Kalshi in contracts. Updated 3 min ago.
How Kalshi works
Each Kalshi market is a contract that pays $1 if the event happens and $0 if it doesn’t. Contracts trade between 1¢ and 99¢, so the price is the market’s estimate of the chance. You can buy “Yes” or “No”, and sell at any time before the market closes.
- Events and markets. A question with several possible answers, like “Who will win the 2027 Pro Football Championship?”, is an event made up of one yes/no market per team.
- Naming. Kalshi avoids league trademarks, so you’ll see “Pro Football” for the NFL and “Pro Basketball” for the NBA, and teams written as cities, such as “Los Angeles R” for the Rams.
- Combos. Kalshi added combos, its version of parlays, in 2025, letting you join outcomes from different markets into one contract.
- Resolution. Every market lists the source that settles it, such as an official agency release or league result, and Kalshi settles according to those rules.
Fees
Kalshi charges a trading fee on each contract, rounded up to the nearest cent per order. The standard taker formula is:
fee = 0.07 × contracts × price × (1 − price)
| Price | Fee per contract | Fee on 100 contracts |
|---|---|---|
| 10¢ or 90¢ | 0.63¢ | $0.63 |
| 25¢ or 75¢ | 1.31¢ | $1.32 |
| 50¢ | 1.75¢ | $1.75 |
Orders that rest on the book and get filled later (maker orders) pay a much smaller fee, and nothing at all on many markets. Some products have their own rates, so always check the fee preview before you confirm. Rates from Kalshi’s published fee schedule, checked October 2026.
Deposits and withdrawals
| Method | Speed | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Bank transfer (ACH) | A few business days | Free |
| Debit card | Instant | Processing fee of about 2% |
| Wire transfer | Same day | No Kalshi fee; your bank may charge |
| Crypto (USDC and others) | Minutes | Network fee; converted to dollars on arrival |
Withdrawals can go to your bank account, a debit card or a crypto wallet; outside the US, withdrawals are by card or crypto. Bank transfers are free; faster options may carry a small fee. Check Kalshi’s current limits and fees in the app before moving large amounts.
Where Kalshi is available
Kalshi is open across the US, but its sports contracts are being challenged by several states (see below), so availability of some markets can vary by state. Outside the US, Kalshi announced in October 2025 that it had opened to more than 140 countries, while restricting a list of jurisdictions that includes the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. The full list is in Kalshi’s terms and changes over time.
Kalshi’s legal fights
Kalshi is the company that won the right to list election markets in the US. In September 2024 a federal court ruled against the CFTC’s attempt to block its congressional control contracts, and the CFTC later dropped its appeal. In January 2025 Kalshi began listing sports contracts, which now make up most of its volume.
That’s where the current fight is. Several states argue that sports contracts are illegal sports betting under state law, while Kalshi argues that federal commodities law takes priority. Courts have split: some rulings have gone Kalshi’s way, while in 2026 a Sixth Circuit panel ruled against Kalshi in Ohio and Tennessee (Kalshi has asked the full court to rehear the case), and courts in Michigan, Nevada and Connecticut have also ruled against it. New Jersey has asked the US Supreme Court to hear its case (Flaherty v. KalshiEX, No. 26-299, filed September 2, 2026); Kalshi’s response is due November 9, 2026, and the Court hadn’t decided whether to take it when we checked on October 28, 2026.
Is Kalshi safe?
Kalshi is a regulated US exchange: it verifies every customer’s identity, operates under CFTC rules on customer funds and market conduct, and is backed by some of the largest venture investors in the US. In 2026 it raised funding at a reported valuation of more than $20 billion. As with any exchange, the risk you take is that a position goes against you, not that the platform makes up the price.
Kalshi vs Polymarket
Kalshi works in dollars and is the natural choice in the US; Polymarket’s main exchange settles in pUSD, a USDC-backed dollar token, and is closed to Americans, who use the separate Polymarket US app instead. Their fees are now similar. Read the full Kalshi vs Polymarket comparison.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Fully regulated in the US by the CFTC
- Dollar deposits by bank, card or crypto
- Strong economics, weather and sports markets
- Available in 140+ countries
Cons
- Taker fees on most trades
- Sports access under legal challenge in several states
- Restricted in the UK, Canada, France and other countries
- Some markets thinner than on Polymarket
FAQ
Is Kalshi legal?
How old do you have to be to use Kalshi?
Does Kalshi charge fees?
Can you use Kalshi outside the US?
Can you do parlays on Kalshi?
Related: Kalshi valuation and IPO · Kalshi glossary · Kalshi fees · Kalshi deposits and withdrawals · Kalshi API · What is Kalshi? · Kalshi vs Polymarket