Kalshi, the fast-growing prediction market platform, is booming as its user base continues to expand and its recently launched perpetual futures product gains traction.
Kalshi Added Three Million Users During World Cup Tournament
The company has added three million new users during the World Cup tournament, with users placing bets worth $1.2 billion on who will win the tournament. Its total World Cup volume was over $12 billion.
Kalshi’s growth has boomed during the tournament through several initiatives. The most notable one was teaming with ADI Predictstreet, the official prediction market sponsor for the tournament. Its branding was plastered in all stadiums.
Most recently, the company partnered with OpenAI, allowing ChatGPT to display Kalshi contract odds when users searched for matches during the tournament.
It also launched partnerships with some of the most influential people in the soccer industry. This includes Luka Modric, Jose Mourinho, and Argentina’s national team.
The question, however, is whether Kalshi’s popularity will continue growing after the World Cup tournament ends today. The company has diversified its business to other sports and industries. For example, its volume in the ongoing The Open Championship tournament stood at over $326 million.
Kalshi’s Perpetual Futures Volume is Soaring
Meanwhile, the company has launched perpetual futures contracts that have become highly popular among users. According to its website, this volume jumped to over $12 billion.
According to the Financial Times, the company can now offer perpetual futures after receiving approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a development that Kalshi’s head of markets, Michael Selig, described as a watershed moment for the financial industry.
Perpetual futures were conceptualized by Yale’s Robert Shiller three decades ago. They then became popularized by BitMex, the company started by Arthur Hayes. Their main difference to traditional futures products is that they never expire and have no physical delivery of the underlying assets.
A key challenge facing Kalshi is the rising competition from Polymarket, another popular prediction marketplace. For example, a poll on who will win the World Cup has accumulated over $4 billion in volume. Another poll on who will win between Spain and Argentina has $16 million in volume on Polymarket compared to $1.4 million on Kalshi.
Kalshi has become a highly valued company. In May, it raised $1 billion at a $22 billion valuation, making it a bigger company than DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) and Flutter Entertainment (NYSE:FLUT), which are valued at $13 billion and $18.5 billion, respectively. It is also eying a fundraising at a $40 billion valuation.
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