Kalshi, the prediction markets platform that has become the dominant force in US event contracts, is in informal talks with investment banks about a potential IPO, The Information I mentioned Thursday, citing sources familiar with the company’s financial situation.
The unveiling caps a period of rapid transformation for the four-year-old company. It has achieved annual revenues like nothing crossed $2 billion – three times the number recorded in November 2025 – after significant spikes in trading associated with the NBA Playoffs and FIFA World Cup, which sent trading volume to record levels.
In May, the platform recorded $16.81 billion in monthly trading volume, up from $14.81 billion in April.
IPO talks are still at an early stage, and a listing is not expected before late 2027 or 2028. As part of the discussions, Calci is asking potential bank advisors to integrate with its platform, a move designed to give those banks’ institutional clients direct access to trading.
The news arrives weeks after Kalshi closed A $1 billion Series F round led by Kuato at a valuation of $22 billion — double the company’s valuation as of January. The round attracted participation from Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Paradigm, IVP, Morgan Stanley and ARK Invest.
Monster numbers like nothing
everything Commands Over 90% of forecast market activity is US. Annual trading volume rose from $52 billion to $178 billion over the past year, and institutional trading on the platform jumped 800% in the six months ending in early May.
These numbers have caught the attention of Wall Street firms looking for new places to deploy capital.
The company was founded in 2020 by Tarek Mansour and Luana Lage, graduates of the MIT and Y Combinator programs, to build a regulated exchange where users can trade the outcomes of real-world events — from Federal Reserve decisions and economic indicators to sports scores and political races.
For years, everything What? Legal battle against the CFTC for the right to list political event contracts. It prevailed in late 2024 when a federal court ruled in the company’s favor, opening a market that now generates billions in annual trading volume.
Calci plans to deploy its latest capital toward institutional expansion, including end-to-end trading capabilities, new risk products for hedge funds, asset managers, and insurance companies, and modernization of core trading infrastructure.
The timing of the IPO will depend in part on broader market conditions and the durability of Calci’s growth. The prediction market space has attracted a wave of competitors, including… PolymarketBut Calci’s status as a CFTC-regulated exchange gives it advantages in institutional adoption that decentralized competitors cannot replicate.
If Kalshi goes public in 2027 or 2028 at a valuation close to its last private round, it will rank among the largest fintech IPOs in the U.S. in recent years.
