Kalshi hits monthly record with up to $27 billion in World Cup volume
Kalshi's trading volume surged during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with the CFTC-regulated prediction market platform recording between $24.2 billion and $27 billion in event-contract trades across the tournament. The World Cup winner contract alone drove more than $1.2 billion in activity. Kalshi added roughly 3 million new users during the period. The platform separately set a single-day record of $217.98 million in crypto event contracts on July 15, 2026.
The World Cup numbers give Kalshi and rival Polymarket concrete political liabilities. A bipartisan Senate bill to ban sports event contracts on CFTC-registered platforms was introduced in March, and sponsors now have live billion-dollar figures to cite. Kalshi is already stretched across state fights in New York, Michigan, Illinois, and New Mexico, plus a Second Circuit appeal.
A federal ban would strip its core sports vertical nationwide without waiting for courts. Both platforms face a narrowing window to build credible self-regulation on insider surveillance and tax reporting before lawmakers write rules for them. DraftKings and Robinhood are watching from their own regulated launches.