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"We Want to Be Bigger Than the CME" | Kalshi's John Wang
- Kalshi is a regulated prediction market and perpetual futures exchange operating in 140 countries, with crypto as its second-largest business line and 90% market share in crypto predictions.
- Kalshi's regulated, onshore strategy contrasts with offshore competitors like Polymarket; the company leverages partnerships with Coinbase, Robinhood Crypto, and other major platforms to embed prediction markets and perps.
- Kalshi's perpetual futures platform is the first US-regulated perp exchange available on app stores for retail and compliant institutional access; crypto perps include Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, Doge, XRP, and others with self-certification authority following Bitcoin perp approval.
- Gold and silver perp markets are pending CFTC approval, with higher leverage limits planned for non-crypto assets; the company aims to expand into real-world assets (RWAs) where Hyperliquid already captures significant volume.
- Insider trading prevention and market integrity are central to Kalshi's growth strategy; the company defines insider trading per market, prevents certain persons (e.g., politicians) from trading political markets, and uses surveillance infrastructure to detect violations.
- Kalshi's roadmap unifies predictions and perps into a cohesive platform with social features, market expectation insights, and simplified UI; institutional block trades and weather hedges demonstrate enterprise adoption beyond retail sports betting.