In a landmark development, prediction market Kalshi resumed taking bets on the outcome of the congressional elections after an appeals court lifted a ban on the platform’s operations by the CFTC.
What Happened: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied the motion by the CFTC to halt the platform from offering legalized bets while the agency’s appeal of the case it lost to Kalshi in a lower court last month is pending.
Kalshi founder Tarek Mansour took to X to share the news, saying “U.S. presidential election markets are legal. Officially. Finally.”
Post the court’s decision, Kalshi self-certified the contract “Will pres candidate or another party Representative win the Presidency by being the first inaugurated as President for the year Term of Office?” with the CFTC, as per a notice on the regulator’s website.
According to Kalshi’s website, two contracts linked to the congressional elections were up and running, namely “Which party will win the Senate?” and “Which party will win the House?” Around $45,000 was wagered on the outcome of Senate elections, while $20,000 worth of contracts were purchased for House elections.
The presidential contract was also teased but was not open for betting at the time of writing. A clock indicated that the contract would launch sometime during Thursday afternoon.
Why It Matters: Kalshi’s reentry could heat the U.S. election betting market, so far dominated by the likes of cryptocurrency-based Polymarket.
Claiming to be the world’s largest prediction market, Polymarket has seen more than $1 billion wagered on who among Donald Trump and Kamala Harris would become president. Ironically, the platform is unavailable to U.S. users due to federal regulations.
The platform facilitates buying and selling outcome shares using cryptocurrencies. The shares can be redeemed for $1 if the outcome is correct and become worthless if it’s incorrect.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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