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<p>Kalshi has just reached a milestone. The predictive markets platform recorded 15.4 million visits from the United States in July 2026, compared to barely 1 million a year earlier. That’s an increase of 1,520%, according to Similarweb data consulted by Cointelegraph on Friday. Trading volume is rising at an even faster pace. Approximately 40 billion dollars in notional monthly volume in August, compared to 874 million a year before. But the information that really changes the game is elsewhere. Kalshi has just launched crypto perpetual contracts, including BTC, ETH, BNB and 14 other assets, with up to 6x leverage. A pivot that complicates an already heavy regulatory file.</p>
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  <h2 class="in-brief--title" id="in-brief">In brief</h2>
  <ul>
   <li>Kalshi now captures most of the growth in the predictive markets sector, driven by sports contracts.</li>
   <li>The platform is playing its regulatory survival before the Supreme Court on the exact nature of its contracts.</li>
   <li>In the midst of a legal battle, Kalshi chooses to open a second front by launching leveraged crypto perpetuals.</li>
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<h2 id="h-kalshi-vertigo-inducing-traffic-and-volumes">Kalshi: Vertigo-Inducing Traffic and Volumes</h2>
<p>The numbers speak for themselves. US traffic represented nearly 80% of Kalshi’s total in July, compared to 72.8% a year earlier. Growth remains massively concentrated on the American market. Sports contracts, meanwhile, account for 83% of July’s trading volume, reported Barron’s on Thursday. In terms of volume, the entire predictive markets industry <a href="https://www.cointribune.com/en/binance-is-getting-ready-to-launch-a-prediction-market-offensive/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">has grown from 2 to 50.7 billion dollars monthly</a> over the period, with Kalshi capturing nearly 79% of the total alone. So Kalshi hasn’t just grown, it has absorbed the entire market.</p>
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<p>The notable fact here is that traffic is also increasing from jurisdictions where Kalshi is not allowed to operate directly:</p>
<ul>
 <li>Canada increased from 50,000 to 450,000 visits;</li>
 <li>The United Kingdom from 31,000 to 296,000, while the platform’s user agreement still prohibits direct access from these two countries.&nbsp;</li>
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<p>Kalshi circumvented the issue in June through a partnership with Wealthsimple, which gives access to about 4,000 eligible contracts via a separate app. Clever, but it doesn’t erase the fundamental question. Who accesses what, and under what authorization?</p>
<h2 id="h-a-court-case-that-has-reached-the-supreme-court">A Court Case that Has Reached the Supreme Court</h2>
<p>While <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/kalshi-traffic-soars-regulatory-pressure-mounts?utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_source=rss_feed" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">traffic explodes</a>, the courts are active. New Jersey has brought before the US Supreme Court the question of whether Kalshi’s sports contracts fall under federal supervision (thus the CFTC) or state gambling laws specific to each state. Michigan is pursuing its own efforts to block the platform. The issue is not cosmetic because if sports contracts are reclassified as bets under state jurisdiction, a significant part of Kalshi’s model, 83% of the volume, becomes fragile in its main markets.</p>
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<p>Kalshi is playing a double-edged sword here. On the one hand, it claims federal status as an event contract market, regulated by the CFTC for years. On the other hand, the bigger the platform grows, the more it attracts state regulators’ attention, who see in this success proof that Kalshi is effectively disguised sports betting.</p>
<h2 id="h-the-crypto-shift-that-incorporates-a-regulator">The Crypto Shift that Incorporates a Regulator</h2>
<p>And now Kalshi adds another layer. On September 4, the Kalshi Crypto account announced on X the launch of perpetuals on BNB, complementing an offering that already covers <a href="https://www.cointribune.com/en/tag/bitcoin-btc-en/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">BTC</a>, ETH, LINK and 14 other cryptos, with leverage up to 6x for eligible American traders. An extension confirmed the same day by a post relaying the announcement on the network. The platform is also pushing, according to the same publications, towards tokenized stocks and gold.</p>
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<p>To say it frankly, the timing is bold because Kalshi is already fighting before the Supreme Court to prove that it is not a disguised bookmaker. And it chooses this precise moment to launch 6x leverage on cryptos, a territory that clearly falls under the CFTC’s eye for classical derivatives. Instead of simplifying its regulatory file, Kalshi has opened a second front. This time on leveraged crypto derivatives, while the first, sports contracts vs. gambling, is not even resolved yet.</p>
<h2 id="h-three-things-about-kalshi-to-keep-in-mind">Three Things About Kalshi to Keep in Mind</h2>
<ul>
 <li>US traffic up +1,520% in one year, 15.4 million visits in July, compared to less than 1 million in August 2025</li>
 <li>Kalshi is about 40 billion dollars, driven to 83% by sports contracts, while litigation over their status rises to the Supreme Court</li>
 <li>New regulatory front opened at the beginning of September: launch of crypto perpetuals (BTC, ETH, BNB, LINK + 14 assets) up to 6x leverage</li>
</ul>
<p>Kalshi is therefore growing faster than its regulatory base can keep up. Between the Supreme Court and the CFTC, two fronts are opening at the same time: sports and crypto. The question is no longer whether a regulator will decide, but <a href="https://www.cointribune.com/en/ex-trump-teleprompter-operator-convicted-of-insider-trading-on-kalshi/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">which one will tackle it first</a>.</p>

Amidst a Legal Dispute, Kalshi Introduces its Crypto Perpetuals

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