Kalshi Boosts Surveillance Ahead of Super Bowl

Kalshi says it’s expanding surveillance on its prediction markets platform with an independent advisory committee and partnerships to catch insider trading and market manipulation just days ahead of the Super Bowl.

Kalshi said on Thursday that the committee would give a quarterly rundown to the company’s outside counsel and publish statistics on investigations into suspicious activity on the platform. 

It is also teaming up with crypto trading surveillance platform Solidus Labs and the director of Wharton Forensic Analytics Lab, Daniel Taylor, “to detect, investigate, and address market abuse.”

The move comes three days before Super Bowl 60, one of the biggest sporting events in the US, which has already seen more than $168 million worth of bets placed on Kalshi.

Regulators and Congress are also closely scrutinizing prediction markets, with federal lawmakers introducing a bill last month to restrict trading by government insiders after a Polymarket user made thousands on bets tied to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, placing wagers days before US forces captured him in Caracas.

Kalshi is also among a handful of prediction markets that have been targeted by US state regulators, who claim sports event contracts are illegal gambling, which Kalshi and other companies have rebuffed.

Alongside Wharton’s Taylor, Kalshi’s surveillance committee also includes Lisa Pinheiro, a managing principal and data scientist focused on market manipulation at Analysis Group. Kalshi’s lawyer, Robert DeNault, was also appointed to head of enforcement to coordinate with the new committee.

Brian Nelson, a former US Treasury official who worked on terrorism and financial intelligence matters, was also hired to advise on trading surveillance and compliance matters.

Kalshi eyes offering margin trades: Report

Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported on Thursday that Kalshi is seeking regulatory approval to offer margin trades in the US.

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People familiar with the matter told the FT that the approval is part of a move to open up to more institutional investors.

Margin trades on event contracts could reportedly be structured like traditional futures contracts, where investors deposit a fraction of the contract’s face value and settle in full when it closes.

Kalshi has reportedly been talking with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to enable margin trades for several months.

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