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Platform review

Kalshi review

CFTC-regulated event contract exchange

Regulated✅ Available

In United States: KalshiEX is a CFTC-designated contract market and its Member Agreement names no US state as restricted. State court orders block some contract categories in Nevada, Washington and Michigan; elsewhere its contracts are available. Kalshi is in litigation with about 20 states, so this can change quickly.

Our verdict

The only venue here whose regulator you can look up. Kalshi appears on the CFTC's own register as designated since 3 November 2020, the oldest designation in this pool, and that registration is the whole point of choosing it: a supervised order book, a stated fee schedule, dollars in a brokerage-style account rather than a wallet you manage, and an exchange under a duty to run surveillance.

That duty is visible in practice — the CFTC fined a White House teleprompter operator in August 2026 for trading its mention markets on speeches he had read in advance — and so is its limit, since the order arrived months after the trades. The cost of all this is friction: identity verification, and a market set narrower than the on-chain venues list.

Market data is public, so you can read prices and resolution rules before opening anything. Best for a US-eligible trader who wants a regulated counterparty more than the widest board.

Risk flags

WatchLimited in 3 US states. Restricted in MI, NV, WA — by the operator’s rule or a state order. What each state has done: Michigan, Nevada, Washington. State-by-state availability →

Flags are rules over the facts on record, the same for every platform — how they work.

7.7/10

Editor score

Preliminary

Go to Kalshi →

Affiliate link · 18+ · trading involves risk

Score last changed: 4 Oct 2026

Score breakdown — 6 of 9 criteria rated (preliminary)

6 of 9 criteria are assessed, covering 66% of the declared weight. The remaining weight is redistributed proportionally rather than counted as zero.

Fees & costs6.0/1022.73% (declared 15%)
Published schedule (kalshi.com/docs/kalshi-fee-schedule.pdf, effective 7 July 2026, read 16 September 2026): takers pay 0.07 × contracts × price × (1 − price), scaled by a series multiplier and rounded up to the cent — $1.75 per 100 contracts at 50¢, about 3.5% of the cost of a 50¢ trade.
Makers pay nothing by default, though selected series charge them 0.0175 × C × P × (1 − P); there is no settlement fee. Level with Crypto.com’s 6.0 and half a point under Polymarket’s 6.5: the highest coefficient in this pool, rounded up on every fill, with maker fees on some series. The 2% debit-card deposit fee is weighed under Deposits & withdrawals, not here.
Regulation & trust9.5/1022.73% (declared 15%)
Named on the regulator’s own register, as the venue itself rather than an affiliate: “Kalshi — Designated — 11/03/2020” on the CFTC’s Designated Contract Market register (read 31 July 2026). That is the oldest designation of any platform in this pool.
Kalshi’s own help centre corroborates the supervision in its onboarding: identity verification is “mandated … due to our regulatory obligations under United States (US) law”, and “Kalshi is regulated by the CFTC, which may require additional documents such as proof of address, employment information, or source of funds” (read 31 July 2026).
Not higher: we have not verified the state-level access restrictions from a primary source, and we have audited neither incident history nor fund segregation, both of which this criterion also measures.
Market variety9.0/1018.18% (declared 12%)
Kalshi’s own production API returns 14 series categories — Climate and Weather, Commodities, Companies, Crypto, Economics, Elections, Entertainment, Financials, Mentions, Politics, Science and Technology, Social, Sports, Transportation (external-api.kalshi.com/trade-api/v2/search/tags_by_categories, read 31 July 2026). That covers all seven of the categories we track, and it is the widest verified taxonomy in this pool.
Rated on that breadth alone: active market count and listing speed for new events are the other two things this criterion measures and neither has been sampled.
Deposits & withdrawals7.5/1018.18% (declared 12%)
All figures from Kalshi’s own help centre, read 31 July 2026. Minimum deposit “$10”, except wire transfer at $1,000. Deposit routes: debit card including Apple Pay and Google Pay, bank transfer (ACH), PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, crypto, wire and real-time payments; international users are limited to debit card, crypto and wire. Withdrawal routes published as separate articles: debit card, bank, crypto, PayPal and Venmo.
USD throughout, and identity verification is mandatory. Held to 7.5 rather than higher for three stated frictions: “Debit deposits may incur a 2% processing fee”, “we place temporary holds on deposited funds before they’re available for withdrawal” with hold periods varying by method, and a withdrawal route list narrower than the deposit list.
No withdrawal fee is stated on any page we read, which is not the same as there being none.
Resolution6.5/1012.12% (declared 8%)
The most thoroughly specified contingencies in this pool, and the least trader recourse. Read from the KalshiEX LLC Rulebook v1.29, 85 pages, downloaded anonymously from Kalshi’s own document bucket (kalshi-public-docs.s3.amazonaws.com, file dated 17 August 2026, read 9 September 2026). Kalshi “has sole discretion to interpret a Contract’s Terms and Conditions” (6.3(c));
an exchange-initiated Market Outcome Review Process sends the question to a board Outcome Review Committee that “shall … determine a final Market Outcome within a 24 hour period”, and its “determinations … are final” (7.1(b), 7.1(c)). Where an outcome cannot be determined the rulebook names the fallback — the last traded price, else a committee allocation (6.3(c)) — and where a source is “unavailable or undergoes significant modifications” Kalshi may designate a new one (7.2(a)), or move the expiration date if data is delayed (7.2(b)). Specifications are “fixed as of the first day of trading” (13.1(g)), and per-contract terms are public PDFs.
Held down by two things. There is no trader-initiated challenge at all: no window, no bond, and Chapter 10 arbitration is framed as “any Claim by the Participant against a Participant”, so on its face it is not a route to appeal the exchange’s own determination — the words “complaint” and “reparations” do not appear in the rulebook.
And the promised public record does not exist yet: 7.1(a) and 13.1(d) commit to posting reviews and outcomes on the website, while Kalshi’s own notice page reads “A searchable notice archive is coming soon.” A venue that decides alone and publishes no history of deciding is asking to be trusted rather than checked.
Bonuses & promos6.0/106.06% (declared 4%)
Operator-stated terms (Kalshi’s public terms documents, read 4 October 2026): a $55 credit for a promo code after $25 of trades within 7 days (terms of 29 September 2026), a fixed $25 referral credit, and a variable $15–$500 credit whose stated odds average $25.05. Every credit must be used within 7 days; under the $55 and variable terms it becomes withdrawable once you have traded an amount equal to it.
Up from 4.5, which rested on an undisclosed amount — the amounts are now published. Held at 6.0 because Kalshi’s public pages do not say which programme a given code carries, and a week is a short window to use a credit.

Weights are published in full on our methodology page. Commercial relationships are not an input to this model.

Verified documents & product scope

Check country eligibility

Choose the country you want to check. This lookup does not change your site region or establish individual account approval.

Country

Where is Kalshi available?

Kalshi accepts applications from international customers, subject to identity checks and the Member Agreement. Many countries are expressly excluded from event-contract trading. Absence from that list does not by itself verify an individual’s eligibility.

What fees does Kalshi charge?

The general taker formula is 0.07 × multiplier × contracts × price × (1 − price), subject to schedule rounding. Maker fees use 0.0175 with a default multiplier of zero, but selected series charge maker fees. No settlement fee; funding charges depend on the payment method.

These are document checks, not a funded-account test. Access may depend on residence, physical location, account approval and the contract category. Check the operator’s current terms before depositing.

Learn how play-money and real-money markets differ, use the fee and payout tools, or read our review methodology.

See our Platform documentation audit for the method and downloadable source register.

Member Agreement, 17 June 2026 — checked 2026-09-16
Section VI lists jurisdictions where event-contract trading is prohibited. Account membership and non-trading access are distinct from permission to trade.
International access — checked 2026-09-16
International signup exists, subject to the Member Agreement, residency confirmation and identity verification. Payment methods vary by region.
Fee schedule effective 7 July 2026 — checked 2026-09-16
Trading fees depend on price, contract count and series multipliers. Maker exceptions exist; ACH deposits and withdrawals have no Kalshi fee.
Nevada Gaming Control Board — joint stipulation and order (geofencing) — checked 2026-09-28
Kalshi stipulated that “by no later than August 12, 2026” it will implement GeoComply multi-source geofencing to keep sports, election and entertainment contracts out of Nevada.
Nevada Gaming Control Board — preliminary injunction against Kalshi — checked 2026-09-28
The First Judicial District Court granted the Board a preliminary injunction barring Kalshi from offering sports-, election- and entertainment-related contracts in Nevada.
Washington Attorney General — judge orders Kalshi to cease Washington operations — checked 2026-09-28
The order “requires Kalshi to stop offering, accepting, or facilitating wagers on sports, elections, politics, entertainment, culture, tech and science, or mentions” in Washington.
Michigan Attorney General — second order halting Kalshi sports contracts — checked 2026-09-28
The preliminary injunction “requires Kalshi to maintain geofencing to block Michigan residents and those within Michigan’s borders” from its sports contracts.
Kalshi Help Center — Transfers FAQ — checked 2026-10-26
Minimum deposit $10 ($1,000 by wire); limits shown on the Transfers page. Causes of failed deposits by method: mistyped card details, billing address not matching the Kalshi verification address, 3D Secure problems, the card issuer blocking the payment; bank accounts must be in the user’s name; PayPal and Venmo accounts must match the Kalshi name and, with Cash App, are US-only. Deposits cannot be cancelled once submitted.
Kalshi Help Center — Card Deposits — checked 2026-10-26
Visa, Mastercard and Discover debit cards accepted; American Express not supported; debit deposits may incur a 2% processing fee; the cardholder name must match the Kalshi account; disable any VPN; try another card or contact the bank if a deposit fails.

Pros and cons

What works

CFTC-designated contract market
Fiat deposits and withdrawals, no wallet needed
Default maker fee is zero, with charged series exceptions
Mobile apps on both platforms

What doesn’t

Country restrictions and account approval apply to international users
Narrower market selection than on-chain venues
KYC required before you can trade
Trading fees vary by contract price and series

Public website & interface

Dated website captures for identification and interface context. Displayed prices are historical; these images do not establish account eligibility or a funded-account test.

Kalshi official help article about prediction markets; public page captured 16 September 2026, not a logged-in trading session · Source website · View full image

Prices and liquidity

We do not currently publish live quotes for Kalshi. Check the platform’s order book before placing an order: the last trade can differ from the price available for your position size.

How to assess liquidity and spreads →

How Kalshi works

Kalshi runs KalshiEX as a designated contract market — an exchange registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the same category of registration a futures exchange holds. That registration is what makes an event contract here a regulated derivative rather than a bet, and it is the single biggest structural difference between this venue and the on-chain ones.

It appears on the CFTC’s own Designated Contract Market register as “Kalshi — Designated — 11/03/2020”, the oldest designation of any platform in this pool. Designation is not a blanket endorsement: it says the exchange is registered and supervised, not that every contract listed on it is appropriate or lawful where you live.

Prices are decimal dollars between 0 and 1 — a contract at 0.61 is the market saying 61%. Both YES and NO are quoted as asks, so their sum carries the real spread rather than a midpoint that hides it. A market where nobody is offering one side quotes that side at a full dollar, which is a real and awful price rather than a placeholder, and our board withholds it rather than printing an implied probability nobody can trade against.

Fees and costs

Kalshi publishes a fee schedule, and unlike the on-chain venues the cost of a trade here is stated rather than inferred. Read it against the spread: on a liquid contract the fee is the larger half of your cost, and on an illiquid one it is not.

Settlement is in dollars in a brokerage-style account rather than a wallet you control, which removes the network-fee question entirely and replaces it with the ordinary bank-transfer one.

What regulation actually buys you

A registered exchange carries duties an unregulated venue does not. The CFTC’s February 2026 advisory on prediction markets states that designated contract markets have “an independent duty pursuant to the core principles of the Act to maintain audit trails, conduct surveillance, and enforce rules against prohibited practices”.

Those duties are visible in enforcement, and it is worth knowing what that looks like in practice. In August 2026 the Commission fined a White House teleprompter operator who had read presidential speeches before delivery and traded Kalshi’s mention markets on the words they contained — release 9289-26, $172,539 and a three-year ban. The case is evidence the surveillance works, and also evidence of its limit: the order came roughly six months after the trades, which is no help to whoever was on the other side at the time.

The same period saw the CFTC assert its jurisdiction against individual states, suing Kentucky in June 2026 on the argument that a state’s effort to restrict CFTC-registered exchanges “obstructs Congress’ decision to federally preempt state law”. That dispute is unresolved, it is mostly about sports contracts, and it is the part of this page that dates fastest.

Accounts and access

An account here works like a brokerage account rather than a wallet connection, and identity verification is part of that. This is the trade the venue makes: more friction on the way in, in exchange for a regulated counterparty and a supervised order book.

Market data is public. Anyone can read prices and each market’s resolution rules without an account, which is unusual in this category and is why the criteria on this venue are the easiest of the three to check before committing.

Kalshi promo code: what Kalshi’s own terms say, and what it is worth →

Kalshi guides

Is Kalshi publicly traded? Kalshi stock explained
No. Kalshi is a private company with no ticker and no public share price; its SEC filings are notices of private share sales. Here is who owns it, what it has raised, and why some funds’ “Kalshi” holdings are not a stock price.
Can you parlay on Kalshi? How Kalshi combos work
Yes, in effect. Kalshi calls them combos: one position on two or more events that pays out only if every leg does. They look like a sportsbook parlay, but the price comes from market makers quoting on request, and there are differences in how a leg can settle.
Kalshi phone verification not working? What to check
Kalshi sends a four-digit code by text when you sign up and every 30 days when you log in. When it does not arrive, the cause is usually the wait, a blocked short code or the number itself — here is what Kalshi’s help centre tells you to try, in order.
How old do you have to be to use Kalshi?
Eighteen. Kalshi checks it against a government photo ID when you sign up, sometimes with a live selfie as well, and it bars minors from trading. Here is what the check involves and what Kalshi does about under-18s using a parent’s identity.
How to withdraw money from Kalshi
Open Transfers, choose “Withdraw from Kalshi”, pick a method and confirm. Debit cards are usually fastest, bank transfers take a few business days, and only settled cash can leave — not money in open positions or still under a deposit hold.
Kalshi fees: what you pay to trade, deposit and withdraw
Kalshi charges a trading fee that peaks at 1.75¢ a contract on a 50¢ contract and shrinks toward the extremes, a smaller maker fee on some markets, and nothing to settle, withdraw or hold an account. The formula, Kalshi’s own table, and the exceptions.
Is Kalshi legal? Registration, eligibility and contract rules
How Kalshi is legal — a CFTC-designated exchange under federal law — where state court orders limit it, and how to check your own eligibility.
Kalshi taxes: what the US rules say about event contract gains
The questions that determine treatment, why none of them has a settled answer, and what to keep records of. Not tax advice.

Kalshi FAQ

Is Kalshi legal in the United States?

Kalshi is a CFTC-designated contract market, and its Member Agreement excludes no US state. State courts have still blocked some categories: sports, election and entertainment contracts in Nevada; sports, politics and several other categories in Washington; sports contracts in Michigan. Other markets stay open in those states, and litigation elsewhere means this can change. Not legal advice.

How do I withdraw money from Kalshi?

Kalshi publishes withdrawal routes for debit card, bank transfer, crypto, PayPal and Venmo. It places temporary holds on deposited funds before they can be withdrawn, with the hold period depending on how you deposited (Kalshi help centre, read 31 July 2026). ACH transfers carry no Kalshi fee.

Why is Kalshi not letting me deposit?

Usually a name or billing address that does not match your Kalshi account, a bank or card issuer blocking the payment, an American Express card (not accepted), or an amount under the $10 minimum, according to Kalshi’s help centre.

What fees does Kalshi charge?

What is the minimum deposit on Kalshi?

$10, as stated in Kalshi’s published terms. This is the documented figure, not one we have confirmed with a funded account.

Does Kalshi require identity verification (KYC)?

Yes. Mandatory before trading.

Kalshi requires full legal name, date of birth, a residential address (no PO boxes or commercial addresses) and a live photo of a government ID — driver’s licence or passport — and states it is “mandated to gather this specific information from all Kalshi users due to our regulatory obligations under United States (US) law”, with proof of address, employment information or source of funds possible on top (help.kalshi.com, read 31 July 2026).

Does Kalshi have a mobile app?

Yes. Kalshi has apps for iOS and Android.

Does Kalshi have an API?

Yes. Kalshi documents a public API for market data and trading.

What can you trade on Kalshi?

Event contracts on politics, sports, crypto, economics, entertainment, science and other events. Individual markets open and close, so check the live list before depositing.

Alternatives to Kalshi

Chosen by similarity — the same kind of venue, overlapping markets, and whether you can use it where you are — then by Editor Score.

OGRegulated exchange
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PredictItRegulated exchange
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ADI PredictStreetRegulated exchange
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NovigRegulated exchange
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Head-to-head: Kalshi vs Crypto.com Prediction Markets · Kalshi vs DraftKings Predictions · Kalshi vs FanDuel Predicts · Kalshi vs Interactive Brokers ForecastTrader · Kalshi vs Manifold Markets · Kalshi vs Novig · Kalshi vs Polymarket · Kalshi vs Polymarket US · Kalshi vs PredictIt · Kalshi vs ProphetX

All Kalshi alternatives, with fees and markets →

Authorship

Written by Prediction Markets Best editorial

Key facts

Key facts for Kalshi
Type	Regulated exchange
Launched	2021
Jurisdiction	United States
Licensing	CFTC-designated contract market — Kalshi (CFTC DCM register: “Designated”, 3 November 2020)
Trading fees	Taker 0.07·P·(1−P) — 1.75¢ at 50¢
Withdrawal fee	—
Minimum deposit	$10
Currencies	USD
KYC required	Yes
KYC trigger	Mandatory before trading. Kalshi requires full legal name, date of birth, a residential address (no PO boxes or commercial addresses) and a live photo of a government ID — driver’s licence or passport — and states it is “mandated to gather this specific information from all Kalshi users due to our regulatory obligations under United States (US) law”, with proof of address, employment information or source of funds possible on top (help.kalshi.com, read 31 July 2026).
Market categories	Politics, Sports, Crypto, Economy, Entertainment, Science, Other
Public API	Yes
Mobile apps	iOS, Android
Supported countries	—

Regulatory status

The CFTC’s own Designated Contract Market register lists “Kalshi — Designated — 11/03/2020”, with a remark that the Commission granted a modification for intermediated futures trading on 17 January 2025 (cftc.gov DCM register, read 31 July 2026). Kalshi’s own Member Agreement (v1.6, dated 17 June 2026, kalshi.com/regulatory) opens: “Welcome to KalshiEX, LLC (“Kalshi” or the “Exchange”), a U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) designated contract market (“DCM”).”

The same agreement defines “Restricted Jurisdictions” for the trading of Event Contracts and names 55 countries and territories, Afghanistan through Zimbabwe — among them Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand and the United Kingdom — and it names no US state anywhere. Germany is not on that list.

It adds that “the restrictions set forth in this Section apply solely to the trading of Event Contracts and do not, in and of themselves, prohibit membership on, or non-trading access to, the Platform.” Kalshi’s help centre defers every geographic question to that agreement (help.kalshi.com, “Can I trade on Kalshi from outside the United States?”, dated 20 March 2026).

So Kalshi’s own documents differentiate by country and not by state, and no state-scoped rule is entered below. That does not mean every contract is open in every state. The agreement also bars trading wherever it is “prohibited under Applicable Law or by Kalshi policy”, and state courts have used that room.

In Nevada, a district court injunction bars sports, election and entertainment contracts, and Kalshi agreed to geofence them by 12 August 2026. In Washington, a King County order covers sports, elections, politics, entertainment, culture, tech and science, and mentions contracts. In Michigan, an injunction of 1 September 2026 covers sports contracts. Other markets, such as economics and crypto, stay open in those states. Kalshi is in litigation with about 20 other states, so this can change quickly.

On this page

Complaints

No verified complaints against Kalshi have been published. Cases are checked before they appear, so this counts what we confirmed — not what was sent to us.

See the case log →