Kalshi asks Trump administration to help attract more big bettors
Kalshi is asking the Trump administration for expanded authority that would let users trade event contracts with borrowed money. The request, reported September 23, signals the prediction market platform's push to attract more high-stakes bettors through regulatory or policy changes. It comes as Kalshi separately pursues a CFTC filing to approve margin trading on event contracts. Together, the moves target the same gap: Kalshi currently lacks the leverage tools that brokerage apps offer as standard.
Margin access would let Kalshi compete with brokerage options accounts that already offer leveraged equity exposure. Robinhood already drives the largest prediction-market revenue stream of any retail brokerage, and its users expect margin as standard. Without it, Kalshi risks looking like a toy inside a real trading app.
The filing's scope matters for ForecastEx and Polymarket too: whichever platform first cracks margin rules for event contracts will set the collateral and eligibility template rivals must match. CFTC delay is the real threat here. Every month without approval lets offshore venues keep their leverage advantage intact. A White House endorsement could shortcut that timeline, but it also risks politicizing a technical market-structure question that the agency normally handles.