Kalshi
“Can a CFTC-regulated prediction market become the New York Stock Exchange of real-world events, turning everyday opinions into a liquid, regulated financial asset class?”
Founded in 2018, Kalshi launched in July 2021 as the first CFTC-regulated event contract exchange, positioning prediction markets as a legitimate financial instrument rather than gambling. After years of regulatory battles—including suing the CFTC to enable election markets—Kalshi broke into mainstream finance during the 2024 US election cycle, surging to the top of the App Store. Sports betting now constitutes 90%+ of platform activity and 89% of 2025 revenue, representing a commercial pivot from its original policy/economics-focused framing. The embedded finance story centers on Stripe Connect for platform payments and Sardine for fraud/AML, with Kalshi operating as a CFTC-licensed exchange rather than a financial services company per se.