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The US’s first election betting market has added contracts for trading on national elections from Australia to Ecuador, public filings show.
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Prediction marketplace Kalshi has added contracts for betting on outcomes of elections outside of the United States as political wagers soar ahead of the US presidential contest in November.
The contracts cover national races in countries ranging from Australia to Ecuador, according to regulatory filings with the Commodity Future Trading Commissions (CFTC).
Kalshi also added markets for 2025 races in Canada and Ireland, the filings showed. They add to Kalshi’s existing roster of election betting markets, including more than a dozen contracts tied to outcomes of the upcoming US federal elections.
As of Oct. 23, Kalshi’s flagship market — “Who will win the Presidential election?” — has bootstrapped some $52 million in total betting volume since listing on Oct. 7, according to Kalshi’s website.
Kalshi added more than a dozen new contracts on Oct. 21. Source: CFTC
Related: Kalshi election betting contracts multiply after court win
On Oct. 7, Kalshi listed event contracts for betting on US election outcomes after prevailing in a landmark court battle in September.
This marked the first time an election prediction market has been permitted to operate in the US. It paves the way for others to enter the fray, including Web3 platforms such as Polymarket.
Some $2.3 billion rides on the outcome of the November US presidential election on Polymarket as of Oct. 23, according to its website.
More than 75 countries worldwide are holding elections in 2024, including major economies across the European Union, India and Russia, according to data from Maps Interlude.
Other countries, such as Australia, Canada, Ecuador, and Ireland, are holding elections in 2025.
Source: Maps Interlude
The CFTC said election prediction markets such as Kalshi threaten the integrity of elections, but industry analysts say they often capture public sentiment more accurately than polls.
“[E]vent contract markets are a valuable public good for which there is no evidence of significant manipulation or widespread use for any nefarious purposes that the Commission alleges,” Harry Crane, a statistics professor at Rutgers University, said in an August comment letter filed with the CFTC.
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This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
