Kalshi CEO Says US Prediction Markets May Move Overseas if States Tighten Rules

Tarek Mansour, chief executive officer of US prediction-market platform Kalshi, said the business could be pushed overseas if state-level regulation of prediction markets intensifies. In his view, oversight should remain at the federal level.

CoinDesk reported on October 14 that Mansour recently said at a DC Fintech Week event that the issue is not whether state or federal authorities regulate the market, but whether prediction markets stay in the US or move abroad.

Several US states argue that prediction-market operators are providing illegal gambling services tied to sports-event outcomes and should therefore be subject to state gambling laws. Kalshi and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, however, maintain that prediction markets fall under federal financial-product regulation and that supervisory authority rests with federal agencies.

Mansour also denied allegations that trading volumes were inflated in Kalshi's Bitcoin and Ether perpetual futures market.

He said claims raised on social media about inflated volumes stemmed from a misunderstanding of market-maker orders.