Following a court victory, Kalshi launched U.S. election outcome contracts on October 7, a historic first for government-authorized prediction markets.
The prediction marketplace Kalshi will begin accepting deposits in USD Coin, a popular stablecoin, as the platform revealed on October 28. This comes as the platform competes for customers in front of the elections that will take place in the United States in November.
Fortune magazine reported that the public will soon have access to cryptocurrency deposits, and ZeroHash, a company that facilitates cryptocurrency payments, will handle offramping.
In the realm of political betting platforms, competition is heating up, with Web3 platform Polymarket firmly in the lead and others, notably Kalshi, frantically trying to catch up to the leader.
Following his victory in a landmark court battle in September, Kalshi released event contracts for wagering on the results of the US election on October 7. This event was the first time that the United States government has authorized the operation of a market for election prediction.
It paves the way for other platforms, including Web3 platforms like Polymarket, to join the fray and potentially compete. Robinhood, a platform that facilitates trading in cryptocurrencies and stocks, announced on October 28 that it has launched contracts that would allow select users to wager on the outcome of the presidential election between United States Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican contender Donald Trump.
As of October 23rd, the website of Polymarket stated that around $2.6 billion is contingent upon the outcome of the presidential election that will take place in November. The website of Kalshi reports that the company’s flagship market, “Who will win the presidential election?” has generated nearly $87 million in total betting volume since its listing on October 7th.
Despite US regulators stating that election prediction markets like Kalshi pose a threat to the integrity of elections, industry analysts claim that they often reflect popular mood more accurately than polls.
According to Polymarket and Kalshi, former President Trump is among the most likely candidates to win the presidency by a significant margin. As of the 28th of October, the platforms estimate that Trump’s chances of winning are 62% and 66%, respectively, according to both websites.
Trump, who has stated that he wants to make the United States “the crypto capital of the world,” will face off against Harris, who has been relatively quiet on the subject of the business, in the election that will take place in November.
Matthew Sigel, who is the head of digital assets research at VanEck, told CNBC on October 28 that the performance of Bitcoin is providing a “very bullish setup” for the digital asset as investors prepare for the election.
