Kalshi
A US-regulated CFTC-designated contract market for event-based binary futures, legally distinct from decentralized prediction markets.
Definition
Kalshi is a federally regulated exchange operating as a CFTC-designated contract market (DCM). It offers event contracts, which are legally structured as binary futures, on topics ranging from economic data releases to political outcomes. Unlike Polymarket, Kalshi holds USD (not USDC) and operates under full US regulatory oversight.
In practice
Because Kalshi is a regulated DCM, traders in the US can participate without the legal uncertainty that surrounds decentralized platforms. The tradeoff is a narrower market selection, stricter position limits, and a different API surface from Polymarket's CLOB. Algorithmic traders building on Kalshi use its REST API and must pass KYC; there is no anonymous wallet-based access. Predtools bots target Polymarket, but the same signal logic (momentum, oracles, Kelly sizing) can be adapted for Kalshi markets.