Latest news with #TarekMansour
CNA
11 hours ago
- Business
- CNA
Kalshi valued at $2 billion in latest funding round, CEO says
Kalshi has raised $185 million in a funding round that values the prediction marketplace at $2 billion, its CEO Tarek Mansour said in a post on X on Wednesday. The round was led by crypto-focused investor Paradigm, Mansour said. Investment firms Sequoia, Multicoin, Neo and Bond Capital, and Citadel Securities CEO Peng Zhao also participated. Kalshi offers its users opportunities to profit from predictions on everything from sports and entertainment to politics and the economy. Such event contracts have exploded in popularity since the U.S. presidential election last year. Event contracts have stirred intense debate in financial markets in recent months. Proponents say they offer a more accurate way to predict real-world outcomes than traditional polls as they rely on traders with money at stake. Critics, however, argue that these contracts amount to a "backdoor to gambling," a claim that Kalshi and its peers strongly dispute. Kalshi was founded in 2018 by Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, who met while studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Following a successful court challenge against the Commodity Futures Trading Commission last year, the company gained approval to list contracts related to the White House race. The ruling also encouraged others waiting to dip their toes into the sector. Robinhood, best known for its stock trading app, launched a prediction markets hub in March.
Miami Herald
6 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Upstart prediction market leader has invaded sports betting. Here's why it matters to Nevada
Nevada's gaming companies have invested millions of dollars in their sportsbooks since casinos took their first sports wagers in 1949. Betting on sports and racing is widely viewed in the industry today as a means of getting customers through the doors to bet on other games of chance that are more profitable to casinos than sports bets or to spend on nongaming attractions within the casino. In May 2018, other states nationwide were enabled to offer legal sports betting, thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court's 7-2 vote to overturn the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992. The PASPA decision started a wave of sports-betting legalization that has resulted in 39 states and Washington D.C. allowing bets, producing $115 billion in gaming revenue, an economic impact of $328.6 billion and $52.7 billion in taxes and tribal revenue sharing in 2024. All are tightly regulated in their respective states and tribal jurisdictions. Kalshi invasion But suddenly, out of the blue, event-based trading invaded the space. Kalshi Inc., founded in 2018 in New York by CEO Tarek Mansour and Chief Operating Officer Luana Lopes Lara, became the first company to offer a financial exchange and prediction market. It sold its first contracts in July 2021. Other companies, and Robinhood, have since entered the market. Kalshi bills itself as the first regulated exchange in which people can buy and sell contracts on the outcome of events. Contract prices reflect the view of traders as to the chances of the event happening. What that means is that participants can attempt to predict the outcome of a current event and purchase a contract that will pay off if the event occurs. Kalshi event prediction topics have a wide range, from current events and politics to the weather and entertainment. All propositions are posed as a yes-or-no question. Recent contract offerings asked, "Will the National Guard leave Los Angeles before Aug. 1, 2025?" and "Will there be a new U.S.-Iran nuclear deal this year?" It's easy to start trading by signing up and funding an account through the Kalshi website. Most propositions are based on $1 values with totals reaching just over $1, with the more favored side having the high amount, the less favored side having the low amount and any amount over $1 considered a transaction fee collected by the company. Investors can place up to $25,000 on either side of a contract. Accurate predictions Kalshi boasts on its website that its market participants are remarkably accurate in their assessments. "Our inflation and federal rate forecasts have been more accurate than economists, pundits and traditional news outlets over the past year," the Kalshi website says. Kalshi got on Nevada's radar in late 2024 when the company won a lawsuit that permitted it to offer prediction contracts on elections. Betting on elections is forbidden by Nevada's Constitution. In late 2024 and early 2025, Kalshi stepped up its offers on sporting events and the yes-or-no propositions looked very similar to a typical sports bet. That's when the Nevada Gaming Control Board fired off a cease-and-desist letter to Kalshi warning it that it was in violation of Nevada gaming laws and that in order to offer prediction contracts on sports it would have to be vetted and licensed. Kalshi responded with a lawsuit that month, naming Control Board Chairman Kirk Hendrick and board members George Assad and Chandeni Sendall as defendants. Kalshi defended its belief that it is entitled to offer contracts on sports outcomes, saying that it's regulated federally by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and that federal regulation supersedes any state regulatory oversight. NRA intervenes The state girded to defend itself in the lawsuit to protect the regulatory side of sports gambling in the state. But the ones who stand to lose the most are the gaming companies that have invested millions in their sportsbooks. That's why the Nevada Resort Association filed a motion in U.S. District Court to intervene on the Kalshi case. District Judge Andrew Gordon ruled in June that the NRA could become part of the action, giving the state a new ally to fight the upstart Kalshi. Is Kalshi's prediction market presence a threat to sports betting in Nevada and other states that offer it? In its court documents seeking intervention, the NRA said Kalshi's unregulated presence in Nevada would be "seismic." Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nevada, also is among those hoping the company won't get a foothold in gaming. She's concerned that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission doesn't have the means to control underage gambling, or gambling by illegal players attempting to launder money. She also said unlike casino companies, Kalshi has no program addressing problem gambling. She also noted a political connection between Kalshi and sports betting. President Donald Trump nominated Brian Quintenz, a Kalshi board member, to become the next chairman of the federal agency that regulates futures markets. Last week, members of the Senate Agriculture committee - the Commodity Futures Trading Commission fundamentally reviews trading for agricultural products - grilled Quintenz in a hearing. It's unclear when a full Senate confirmation hearing for Quintenz will occur. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman is expected to schedule a meeting to vote on advancing Quintenz's nomination. If approved, the nomination would be placed on the Senate executive calendar for a full Senate vote. Then, a simple majority is required for confirmation. This entire process may take as little as a few weeks or as long as several months to complete. "The Senate must reject Brian Quintenz's nomination for chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission," Titus said in a statement. "His testimony illustrates how dangerous his appointment would be, including how he plans to transform this important agency into a rubber stamp for unregulated, illegal sports betting nationwide. Mr. Quintenz's conflict of interest as a board member of Kalshi and disregard for agency processes and procedure make it clear that he is the wrong person to lead the CFTC. The agency should be a strong, independent regulator, not a puppet for the president and his family. I thank my colleagues, including Sens. Adam Schiff and Cory Booker, who raised critical concerns during this hearing and urge the full Senate to reject his nomination." In January, Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., became an adviser to Kalshi. Rapid progression In an interview with the Review-Journal, Titus said she is amazed at how rapidly the issue of Kalshi as a sports-betting provider has progressed. "We first saw it when they were talking about betting on election outcomes. And we warned the AGA (American Gaming Association) and we talked to the NRA that this is coming fast. And nobody quite realized how fast it would move. And now, states are starting to get on board. The NRA is weighing in. This guy's (Quintenz) on the board of Kalshi, the biggest company that does this, and he doesn't seem to think there's anything wrong with it. But it's just a total way to get around any state laws concerning sports betting." Titus said she fully expects the matter would ultimately be decided by the courts. "More and more states are getting involved in it," she said. "It's not just Nevada. You've got Maryland, New Jersey and Nevada that have gotten lawsuits. And then you've got Montana, Ohio, Illinois and Arizona that have sent cease-and-desist letters. And then you've got Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Connecticut that have launched investigations. Now, they (Kalshi) won in the first round with Nevada and New Jersey, but now there'll be appeals for this, and now the Nevada Resorts Association is intervening. So I think this is going to play out in the courts and that may take a long time." She said legislative action is an option, but the challenge of that is educating lawmakers about the consequences to the casino industry if court decisions go Kalshi's way. Kalshi has not responded to requests for comment, but a gaming industry analyst said some good for the gaming industry may come out of the company's bold moves. "I'm excited to see what happens as a result of all of the conversations and all of the differing opinions on both sides of this argument," said industry analyst Josh Swissman, founding partner and managing director of Las Vegas-based GMA Consulting. "I will tell you that ultimately to have an environment where you have one set of operators that operate within one regulatory, operating and taxation framework and then you have a second set of operators that operate in a completely, very completely different set of regulatory, taxation and operating frameworks that that is not a long-term recipe for success. "I think what you will see is the coalescence of the two types of environments at some point in the future," he said. "I can't tell you what that looks like, but I can tell you that the gaming industry and sports wagering, particularly on these types of propositions, has been around a lot longer than these prediction markets have. And so there's a lot more in terms of protection mechanisms and infrastructure and everything else than there is in the other. Supreme Court bound Andrew Kim, a partner in the global Goodwin law group's appellate and Supreme Court litigation practice based in Washington D.C., has written extensively about Kalshi's gaming prediction market. He believes the lawsuit boils down to a federal vs. states' rights issue that ultimately will be heard by the Supreme Court. "It seems unavoidable that this will end up at the Supreme Court someday," Kim said in a Review-Journal interview. "I think a lot of that will depend on who wins and in what order. I think we're going to see battles across the country not just by the states but I expect that the tribes might get involved at some point. "It's a matter of whether the (Supreme) Court shows any interest in taking these issues up," he said. "Is it a state vs. federal argument? 100 percent. "The fights with Maryland, Nevada and New Jersey are all about federalism and did Congress intend to in allowing these contracts to exist and letting the CFTC regulate these gaming-related event contracts or did Congress intend to kick out state regulators and prevent them from regulating these contracts as gaming instruments as bets and wagers. That's the question." ___ Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Reuters
05-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
CFTC moves to drop appeal in Kalshi's event contracts case
NEW YORK, May 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday moved to drop its appeal of a court decision that allowed New York derivatives trading platform KalshiEX LLC to list contracts Americans can use to bet on election outcomes. The CFTC asked to allow it to voluntarily dismiss the case, agreeing that each party to the lawsuit will bear its own costs and fees, according to a filing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Monday. A representative for CFTC said the agency filed the motion for voluntary dismissal following a vote of the Commission. A source with knowledge of the matter said the CFTC voted 3-0 in favor of dropping the appeal, with one of the agency's four commissioners abstaining from voting. WHY IT MATTERS The CFTC is walking away from the appeal at a time of flux in regulations over such prediction markets, which critics say are introducing risk into financial markets. KEY QUOTE "Today is historic. We have always believed that doing things the right way, no matter how hard, no matter how painful, pays off. This result is proof of that," said Tarek Mansour, CEO and co-founder at Kalshi, in a statement to Reuters. "Kalshi's approach has officially and definitively secured the future of prediction markets in America." CONTEXT Kalshi sought permission from the CFTC in June 2023 to list contracts that would let Americans bet on whether a particular party will control the House of Representatives and Senate in a given term. The CFTC prohibited Kalshi from listing and clearing its cash-settled political event contracts concerned about unlawful gaming and other activities that it said were not in the public's interest. Kalshi then sued, saying the CFTC exceeded its authority. A judge in the D.C. District Court sided with Kalshi in September. The CFTC immediately appealed, requesting an emergency stay on the lower court's order. The DC circuit ruled in October that Kalshi could list its event contracts, stating that the CFTC did not show how the agency or the public interest would be harmed by them as it claimed. The DC circuit later heard related arguments in January, shortly before Trump took office, but had not yet ruled.
Axios
17-04-2025
- Business
- Axios
Sports event contracts are not gambling, Kalshi CEO says
The CEO of Kalshi says the prediction markets exchange should not be treated as a gambling operation, in part because the U.S.-based company doesn't make money from losing bets. Why it matters: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates Kalshi, is expected to hold a roundtable later this month as it considers whether to continue allowing sports event contracts. Catch up quick: Kalshi last year won the right to offer election event contracts and is now quickly expanding its sports event contracts in all 50 states, including the 11 states where sports betting is still illegal. That now includes certain single-game event contracts, such as games in this week's NBA's play-in tournament, plus "futures" bets like the winner of the 2026 Super Bowl. Kalshi also allows users to invest in a wide range of other contracts, like weather outcomes, stock market performance, Federal Reserve decisions, entertainment award winners and product launches. The big picture: Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour told Axios in an interview that the company should not be treated like sportsbooks, which are regulated on a state-by-state basis. "I just don't really know what this has to do with gambling," he said at an office in Washington. "If we are gambling, then I think you're basically calling the entire financial market gambling." "In our markets, you're trading in an open financial marketplace. You're trading against other people," he added." If you go to a traditional model, you're betting against a sportsbook. They're setting the odds and they make money if you're losing money." Follow the money: Kalshi reported more than $86 million in trading on the Masters golf tournament last weekend after fielding hundreds of millions on the NCAA men's basketball tournament in the previous weeks. "The growth has been astronomical," Mansour said. "It's been great to see." The other side: The American Gaming Association, a group that represents traditional gambling interests, has requested permission to attend the CFTC roundtable to discuss how "these sports events contracts are problematic for a variety of public policy reasons," Sportico reported. "Sports betting industry insiders, who have not been invited to the roundtable, want to join the meeting to make the case that federally regulated sports futures trading too closely mimics sports gambling, which is overseen by state regulators," per Sportico. Multiple states, including the gambling haven of Nevada, have also sent cease-and-desist letters to Kalshi over its sports event contracts. But a federal judge last week issued a preliminary injunction rejecting Nevada's attempt to block Kalshi from offering these contracts, saying that "at this point in time, federal law allows Kalshi to offer both sports and election-based event contracts on its exchange." The big question: Where will the CFTC land? The CFTC did not respond to a request for comment. "We have gotten largely silence from the CFTC" so far, Dustin Gouker, a gambling industry consultant, wrote in his newsletter Closing Line Consulting. "But that silence feels untenable moving forward." Acting chair Caroline Pham sent welcoming signals in February when she assailed the agency's "past hostility to innovation" in this area and called prediction markets "an important new assess sentiment to determine probabilities that can bring truth to the Information Age." President Trump — whose son, Donald Trump Jr., recently became an adviser to Kalshi — has since nominated Kalshi board member Brian Quintenz as permanent chair of the CFTC. Our thought bubble, from Axios Crypto author Brady Dale: If the argument about not earning fees on losses holds up, that should be great for the giant of prediction markets, the blockchain-based and crypto-powered Polymarket, which charges no fees. Polymarket has some legal question marks hanging over it, but it's still doing hundreds of millions of dollars in volume each month. The Trump administration has gone out of its way to turn the page on crypto in Washington. With a blockchain-based application leading this sector it seems more likely to be smiled on by the White House. What to watch: If sports event contracts get the green light from the CFTC, sportsbooks may try to get in on the action.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Prediction market Kalshi leaning into political questions
(NewsNation) — The online prediction market Kalshi is increasingly leaning into political and conversational questions of the day. 'Will Brexit happen? Will Donald Trump win the election? Will it rain tomorrow, and who's going to win the Oscars — those are things that people can relate to,' Kalshi founder and CEO Tarek Mansour told 'The Hill' on Thursday. 'We want to build a financial market that is for everyone, not for a select, elite few.' One question posed by Kalshi this week was about Greenland, a territory that President Donald Trump has suggested could join the U.S. As of Friday afternoon, nearly 35% of participants predicted the U.S. will acquire at least some part of Greenland. Betting on elections threatens confidence in voting and should be banned, US agency says 'We saw billions traded on the election,' Mansour said. 'Since then, the exchange has been scaling and growing at an astronomical pace.' He predicted the ceiling for the prediction market could reach trillions of dollars. On its website, Kalshi said it's the first regulated exchange where people 'can buy and sell contracts on the outcome of events,' with contract prices reflected in the view of traders. While the New York Stock Exchange is a traditional exchange where people can buy and sell shares in companies, Kalshi says its market is based on predictions, such as, 'Will interest rates rise in the next quarter?' The market has drawn scrutiny in New Jersey. This week, regulators ordered Kalshi and Robinhood to stop offering sports-related prediction markets to New Jersey residents. Cease-and-desist letters from the regulators say the companies are offering unauthorized sports wagering services in New Jersey. Donald Trump Jr. is a strategic adviser for the exchange. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
