The occasion contracts supplier, Kalshi, plans to combine its U.S.-regulated prediction market platform into each main cryptocurrency change and utility inside 12 months, based on John Wang, the corporate’s head of crypto.
Wang outlined the enlargement technique throughout an interview on the Token2049 convention in Singapore, calling the initiative a possible tenfold progress driver for the platform. The 23-year-old government, who spent eight years as a crypto dealer earlier than becoming a member of Kalshi in August, stated the corporate desires to construct what he referred to as “an ecosystem of recent monetary primitives and buying and selling front-ends” on prime of its current infrastructure.
“The crypto neighborhood is the definition of energy customers, individuals who reside and breathe new monetary markets and frontier know-how,” Wang stated throughout an interview with The Block. “We’re welcoming an enormous developer base who’re enthusiastic about constructing instruments for these energy customers.”
The push comes as Kalshi grabbed 66% of the prediction market share by late September, up from 3.3% the earlier yr. That progress put it forward of Polymarket, a crypto-native competitor that beforehand dominated the house. Most of Kalshi’s current quantity got here from NFL-related occasion contracts in the USA.
Kalshi collaborates not solely with cryptocurrency exchanges but in addition with retail brokers, together with FOREX.com and Webull.
Kalshi is formally ~70% of GLOBAL prediction market quantity, regardless of solely being reside in ONE nation.
A yr in the past right this moment we had been 2.4%… pic.twitter.com/uTPEQDJyAq
— John Wang (@j0hnwang) October 3, 2025
Blockchain Push Targets Developer Instruments
Kalshi’s onchain technique facilities on pushing occasion knowledge to blockchains in real-time for outdoor builders to make use of. The corporate introduced partnerships with Solana and Base final month, launching grant applications for builders engaged on each onchain and offchain instruments. Wang stated extra blockchain partnerships are within the works.
The platform desires builders to create knowledge dashboards, AI brokers and what Wang referred to as “new venues for informational arbitrage.” He harassed that blockchain options could be non-obligatory additions fairly than replacements for current performance.
“I feel in 12 months I’d have failed my job if we could not look the crypto neighborhood within the eyes and be like, ‘we genuinely made constructive influence right here, we introduced in new audiences into crypto,'” Wang instructed The Block.
The platform gained important publicity by means of its robust partnership with Robinhood, which is closely investing within the improvement of each occasion contracts and inventory tokenization. Vlad Tenev, the corporate’s CEO and co-founder, sees these improvements as the way forward for retail buying and selling.
Associated tales: Robinhood’s Prediction Markets Cross 4 Billion Contracts All-Time, CEO Says
Prediction Markets as Gateway Product
Wang framed prediction markets as an easier entry level into crypto derivatives, arguing they provide extra accessible packaging than conventional choices contracts. He famous that crypto choices have not gained a lot traction regardless of frequent dialogue in buying and selling circles.
“I feel prediction markets are just like [crypto] choices which can be packaged in probably the most accessible kind attainable,” Wang stated. “So I feel prediction markets are just like the Trojan Horse for [people] to enter crypto.”
The corporate additionally plans to increase its crypto-specific occasion contracts considerably, although Wang did not present particular numbers or timelines.
Wang stated Kalshi will maintain tweaking its consumer interface to face other than opponents like Polymarket. Completely different market classes want totally different info flows and context, he defined, which suggests the platform’s design will replicate these variations.
Regulatory Win Opened Door
Wang credited Kalshi’s market share beneficial properties to a few years of regulatory groundwork in the USA. The corporate sued the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee in 2023 after the company blocked it from providing political election contracts. A district courtroom dominated for Kalshi, and the CFTC dropped its enchantment in Could.
“[Kalshi] performed the lengthy recreation and we had been capable of legalize proper earlier than the election, we seized the chance and did one of the best we might,” Wang stated. “Prediction markets and occasion contracts are actually being held on the similar stage as regular derivatives and shares – that is genuinely like the brand new world’s latest asset class.”
Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour participated in a SEC-CFTC roundtable dialogue earlier this week targeted on regulatory oversight of prediction markets and different rising monetary merchandise.
Nevertheless, the corporate can be coping with lawsuits and regulatory controversies throughout a number of U.S. states. Allegations that the platform operates as a type of playing have intensified after poker legend Daniel Negreanu was named its public ambassador.
