Token2049<\/p>\n
Kalshi\u2019s crypto lead says blockchain is essential for the firm.The prediction market recently overtook Polymarket in trading volume.Permissionless margin trading is one potential feature.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Kalshi\u2019s newly hired crypto lead announced the New York-based prediction market is leaning into blockchain technology in a big way.<\/p>\n
The prediction markets platform already lets<\/a> users make deposits in Circle\u2019s USDC stablecoin, as well as other cryptocurrencies, through a collaboration with ZeroHash. Cryptocurrencies are immediately converted to fiat. <\/p>\n But the remit is expanding, John Wang told an audience in Singapore. <\/p>\n \u201cThe next 10x unlock for us will be building new financial primitives for trading on Kalshi,\u201d he said during Solana APEX, a Solana conference at the Marina Bay Sands convention centre. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd crypto, as this global financial layer, is honestly essential to fulfilling that vision.\u201d<\/p>\n The timing is apt. <\/p>\n Crypto country<\/p>\n US President Donald Trump and his administration have issued a slew of executive orders<\/a> to better accommodate the crypto industry in the country. <\/p>\n Lawmakers in Washington also worked at breakneck speed to pass the Genius Act<\/a>, a landmark piece of legislation that allows banks and non-banks alike to issue stablecoins. <\/p>\n Likewise, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has paused or halted investigations into major crypto companies, including Coinbase and Binance. <\/p>\n The SEC chair, Paul Atkins, unveiled \u201cProject Crypto\u201d in August as part of the commission\u2019s deregulation blitz<\/a> of the industry. <\/p>\n In response, many household fintech firms, including the stock-picking app Robinhood<\/a> and payments provider Stripe<\/a>, have announced plans to dive deeper into crypto. <\/p>\n Robinhood also partnered<\/a> with Kalshi in August to launch prediction markets for US college sports.<\/p>\n \u201cAny generational fintech company of this decade will be powered by crypto,\u201d declared Wang, who joined the company in August, on stage.<\/p>\n Kalshi, which counts Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of President Trump, as a strategic adviser, has also profited from the changing regulatory landscape itself. <\/p>\n After the Commodity and Futures Trading Commission prohibited Kalshi from opening betting markets on political events in the US, Kalshi sued in 2023, claiming the regulator was overreaching. <\/p>\n A district court in Washington, D.C., sided with Kalshi, and the CFTC appealed. In May this year, the agency dropped<\/a> its appeal. <\/p>\n What\u2019s next?<\/p>\n As for Kalshi\u2019s deeper push into all things blockchain, Wang has a few ideas. <\/p>\n When Pedro Miranda, the Solana Foundation\u2019s head of consumer, asked Wang what he hopes to see built on Kalshi, the call to developers was ambitious. <\/p>\n \u201cIt can range anywhere from pushing data onchain from our API to, in the future, tokenising Kalshi positions, providing margin and leveraged trading, and building third-party front ends,\u201d said Wang. <\/p>\n