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Prediction market platform secures license to offer margin trading to institutional investors

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Prediction market platform secures license to offer margin trading to institutional investors

Prediction market platform Kalshi has been cleared to offer margin trading to professional clients, a move designed to make its platform more appealing to institutional investors.

The license, granted to Kalshi’s affiliate Kinetic Markets, allows it to operate as a futures commission merchant, according to a filing with the National Futures Association.

Before margin trading goes live, the company still needs a sign-off from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for rule changes that would enable trading without full collateral up front.

Margin trading lets investors open positions with less upfront capital, a practice common in traditional markets but new to regulated prediction markets. Competitors, which include crypto-native prediction markets like Polymarket, do not offer margin trading and instead operate with fully collateralized positions.

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Prediction markets let users bet on the outcomes of real-world events, ranging from elections to economic data releases. These have seen trading volumes explode over the last few months, while facing legal pushback from state regulators who argue that some event contracts constitute unlicensed gambling.

Still, prediction markets have continued to grow. Earlier in the month, Kalshi raised more than $1 billion in a funding round that valued the prediction market at $22 billion.

Meanwhile, the Intercontinental Exchange, owner of the New York Stock Exchange, doubled down on its investment in rival prediction market Polymarket, bringing its total commitment to nearly $2 billion.

Kalshi’s margin feature is set to debut for institutional clients only, and could be rolled out first for new products rather than for core event contracts.

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Crypto World

Polymarket Looks to Raise $400M at $15B valuation: Report

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Polymarket Looks to Raise $400M at $15B valuation: Report

Prediction market platform Polymarket is reportedly in talks with investors to raise another $400 million in fresh capital, The Information reported Monday.

The $400 million raise would be made at a $15 billion valuation, The Information said, citing two people familiar with the matter. 

The raise would add to a wave of institutional capital flowing into the predictions market space in recent months. New York Stock Exchange parent Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) invested $600 million into Polymarket in late March, while competitor platform Kalshi’s valuation was marked at about $22 billion in its last funding round.

The Information said Polymarket is looking to add strategic investors beyond ICE in its next funding round, which could total $1 billion.

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Prediction markets started booming around the time of the 2024 US election and are now consistently recording over $10 billion in monthly trading volume across markets covering everything from sports and political elections to financial results and cultural events.

Monthly trading volume for Kalshi and Polymarket since May 2025. Source: Token Terminal

With that rise has come surging institutional interest from some of Wall Street’s biggest players.

In early March, one of Nasdaq’s options exchanges, Nasdaq MRX, filed to offer cash-settled, binary-style contracts on the Nasdaq-100 index.

Cboe Global Markets is also launching a prediction market-style offering, while CME Group partnered with American gambling company FanDuel, which will enable traders to bet on markets outside of finance. 

Related: Kalshi to create ‘portal for parents‘ on prediction markets: Report

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Last week, TradFi firms Charles Schwab and Citadel Securities said they are also weighing a move into prediction markets.

Legal issues linger over prediction markets

Despite the rise in prediction market activity, Kalshi and others have faced regulatory scrutiny over widespread insider trading and market manipulation allegations.

Kalshi is currently engaged in a court battle with the Nevada Gaming Control Board after a lower court temporarily blocked Kalshi from operating in the state. 

The state regulator argues that Kalshi’s contracts facilitate unlicensed gambling. Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal has predicted that the case could reach the US Supreme Court, potentially creating precedent over the regulatory treatment of prediction markets and event-based derivatives.

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Magazine: Should users be allowed to bet on war and death in prediction markets?