Kalshi has formally asked the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to allow margin trading on its prediction markets, a move that would let eligible traders buy event contracts with borrowed funds rather than fully collateralizing every position. The request was submitted Tuesday, September 22, through Kalshi Klear, the exchange’s in-house clearinghouse, and represents the company’s most aggressive push yet to attract institutional liquidity.
Currently, all event contracts on regulated U.S. exchanges must be fully paid for in cash, which Kalshi argues discourages large firms from participating in longer-dated markets. Under the proposal, margin access would be limited to self-clearing members with a direct relationship to Kalshi Klear who meet specific capital requirements. The exchange also proposed a tiered system in which required collateral increases as a contract approaches its expiration date. Sports, culture, and “mentions” markets would be excluded from the leverage scheme.
Kalshi already commands more than 90% of U.S. prediction-market activity. Its annualized trading volume has jumped from $52 billion to $178 billion in six months, while data from DefiLlama shows open interest above $945 million and off-chain volume of more than $12.7 billion over the past 30 days. However, an analysis of public trade records flagged unusual patterns in Kalshi’s bitcoin and ether perpetual-futures markets, where recurring fixed-dollar trades accounted for a large share of sampled volume. Between Sept. 17 and Sept. 20, trades within $2 of $5,499 made up 57% of sampled ether-perp volume, while on bitcoin, recurring trades around $2,500 and $5,000 represented 54% of sampled activity. CoinDesk found similar fixed-dollar clips in 43 of 46 one-hour samples dating back to June 19, suggesting automated programs may be driving a meaningful portion of volume.
The margin filing is part of Kalshi’s broader expansion beyond simple yes-or-no event bets. The exchange already offers leverage on perpetual futures and received CFTC clearance to launch gold and silver perps this month. Its crypto perps have generated more than $44 billion in notional volume since debuting in late May, and the company has filed to add perps on U.S. equities, copper, and foreign currencies. Kalshi also introduced a professional trading terminal and has partnered with brokerage-infrastructure startup Alpaca for international reach and with Wealthsimple to enter Canada.
Rival Polymarket is pursuing a similar path: Bloomberg reported in July that it began efforts to obtain regulatory licenses and eventually offer margin trading in the United States. Kalshi’s filing does not resolve its separate legal fights over sports contracts. Connecticut sued the exchange in August, a Michigan judge signed an order threatening penalties of up to $500,000 per day if Kalshi continues offering sports markets there, and New Jersey has gone to the Supreme Court to resolve whether the CFTC or states govern these markets.
