Prediction-market startup Kalshi has just secured an $185 million Series C round, catapulting its valuation to $2 billion, according to its official statement. Led by crypto-savvy VC heavyweight Paradigm, this financing brings Kalshi’s total funding to $415 million. The infusion will bankroll accelerated hiring in engineering, the rollout of fresh market designs, and new partnerships with trading platforms and institutional players .
The round cleaves closely to competitor Polymarket’s own blockbuster fundraising: a $200 million raise on a $1 billion valuation led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, revealed via Bloomberg and Reuters. With Polymarket garnering unicorn status offshore—due to regulatory constraints barring U.S. clients—this twin boom underlines mounting investor confidence in prediction markets.
But the two startups differ starkly in infrastructure and regulatory posture. Kalshi is federally sanctioned by the CFTC as a designated contract market and operates fully within U.S. legal frameworks. By contrast, Polymarket remains unlicensed domestically, with a U.S. ban stemming from a 2022 settlement. This federal approval has empowered Kalshi to launch election markets post the November 2024 court victory —a milestone that saw it briefly rival political-wagering giants on volume and raised its public profile.
Trading metrics paint a telling contrast: Kalshi’s API—compiled by independent Polymarket Analytics—reports approximately $113 million in current active trading volume, while Polymarket dwarfs it with just under $600 million . Kalshi now lists more active markets than its rival, but lags in open interest, a core measure of liquidity and trader confidence. Meanwhile, Polymarket still enjoys a significantly larger user base: about 186,000 active traders based on Dune dashboard data.
The new capital round is anchored by Paradigm, whose portfolio spans crypto-native ventures. The San Francisco fund also led the Series A for GTE—a fast-paced decentralized exchange—and now places its bet on prediction markets’ growth trajectory.
On the advisory front, Kalshi has shored up its credibility: in January, Donald Trump Jr. joined its ranks as a senior advisor, a move signifying political potency and signaling intent to deepen engagement in election-based instruments.
In summary, Kalshi’s latest round not only doubles down on its technological and regulatory edge but deepens the narrative of a nascent prediction-market arms race. With more funds, more engineers, and a unique federal license, Kalshi is positioning itself to scale. Meanwhile, Polymarket—with its massive offshore volume and backing from Thiel—continues to dominate user activity, albeit outside U.S. jurisdiction.
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