Betting App Kalshi Eyes Stock Market Debut as Sales Hit $2 Billion

Imagine being able to place a bet on whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates, who wins the World Cup, or how an election turns out. That's exactly what Kalshi lets people do — and the company is now so successful it's thinking about selling shares to the public.

Kalshi is a prediction market (a platform where people trade on the outcomes of real-world events, almost like betting). According to recent reports, the company is in early talks with banks about an IPO (Initial Public Offering — when a private company first sells its shares to everyday investors on the stock market).

The numbers are huge:

• $2 billion in annualized revenue (yearly income) — triple what it was in November 2025
• $16.81 billion in trading volume in May alone (the total value of all trades)
• More than 90% of all U.S. prediction market activity runs through Kalshi
• Institutional trading (big professional investors like hedge funds) jumped 800% in just six months

Why Kalshi matters: Founded in 2020, the company fought a long legal battle to be allowed to offer contracts on political events. It won in late 2024, opening up a market now worth billions. Importantly, Kalshi is regulated by the CFTC (a U.S. government agency that oversees trading markets) — giving it an edge over rivals like Polymarket that operate with less oversight.

The company recently raised $1 billion from major investors, valuing it at $22 billion — double its value from January.

The bottom line: Don't expect to buy Kalshi shares just yet. Any IPO likely won't happen before late 2027 or 2028, and timing depends on how markets perform. But if it does go public near its current value, it could become one of the biggest U.S. fintech IPOs in years.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/prediction-market-kalshi-eyes-ipo