Kalshi is a designated contract market (DCM) regulated by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. It's the only US-based prediction market exchange where traders can legally buy and sell event contracts with dollars on a regulated venue.
What Kalshi lists
Event contracts cleared by the CFTC cover:
- Economic data releases: Fed rate decisions, CPI, unemployment, jobs reports, GDP prints
- Weather: daily high temperatures, precipitation, hurricane landfalls , all tied to NOAA data
- Financial indices: S&P 500, Nasdaq, gold, oil price levels
- Crypto: Bitcoin and Ethereum price levels (under CFTC-regulated contracts)
- Elections: federal races , presidential, Senate, House (approved in late 2024)
- Sports: select markets (NFL, NBA, MLB) where the contract is structured as an event contract
Notable absences: single-stock markets (SEC territory, not CFTC), foreign exchange beyond specific contracts, and most pop-culture markets.
Sign-up + funding
- Create account at kalshi.com with US government ID (age 18+)
- Identity verification (KYC) takes seconds to a few hours depending on the system's confidence
- Fund via ACH bank transfer (free, 1-3 days) or debit card (instant, small fee). No credit cards allowed by CFTC rule.
- New-trader bonuses: Kalshi has offered a $25 sign-up bonus for new accounts via referral , our link applies it automatically when you fund.
Placing an order
Every market page on Kalshi shows an order book with YES bids, YES asks, NO bids, NO asks. You can either:
- Market order: buy at the best available ask (fast, slight price impact)
- Limit order: specify the maximum you'll pay; sit in the queue until someone sells to you
Sizes are in contracts. 100 contracts at 28¢ costs $28. If it resolves YES, you collect $100.
Fees
Kalshi charges a trade fee of roughly 1-7% depending on price level (higher fees near the extremes, lower near 50¢). Winning contracts are paid without additional fee. Funding deposits and withdrawals are free via ACH.
Settlement
When a market's resolution condition is met, Kalshi settles contracts at $1 (winners) or $0 (losers). Funds appear in your account within hours. Withdraw to bank via ACH when ready.
What you can't do on Kalshi
- Short-sell more than the notional value of contracts you hold (you're capped at $1 max loss per contract)
- Use leverage or margin , all positions are fully collateralized
- Trade outside the US (geofenced , you can't access it from Canada or Europe)
Why it matters for this site
PicksByOdds tracks Kalshi market data because Kalshi is the only regulated US venue where US traders can legally participate in prediction markets. When we reference "this contract is available on Kalshi," it means you can trade it yourself. For Polymarket markets (international) we note they're not available to US traders.