Kalshi volume hits $17B in May as it pivots from retail to Wall Street
Kalshi recorded $5.42 billion in April trading volume, overtaking Polymarket for the first time, according to Financefeeds. The platform then pushed past $17 billion in May alone, driven by retail traders, CNBC reported. Pew Center Research found that combined global volume for Kalshi and Polymarket rose 380% over eight months, releasing that finding the same day as a separate prohibition whose details were not recoverable. Asiae cited CNN in reporting that Kalshi's weekly volume exceeded $3 billion during a recent stretch, with that growth drawing headline criticism labeled as reaching a 'public health crisis level.' Kalshi is now pursuing institutional traders in a strategic shift from its retail base.
Kalshi's institutional push now confronts the state-by-state compliance patchwork that just added North Carolina's insider-trading ban alongside Wisconsin's existing rule and Minnesota's pending legislation. Any hedge fund mandate for unified federal preemption will stall capital commitments until the June 5 congressional deadline and parallel Nevada and Washington proceedings resolve.
Kalshi's Wall Street pivot joins a recent run of institutional milestones including CFTC-approved bitcoin perpetual futures, hedge fund recruitment drives, and a volume lead over Polymarket that PredictionScout now ranks alongside FanDuel Predicts as the CFTC-regulated benchmark pair.