Kalshi Tightens Trading Curbs for 18- to 20-Year-Old Users, Sets $2,500 Monthly Deposit Cap
Summary
- Kalshi said it will cap monthly deposits for users ages 18 to 20 at $2,500 and apply additional safeguards.
- The company said users in that age group with account balances above $1,000 will receive an alert recommending diversification if they invest more than 25% of their balance in a single prediction contract.
- Legal disputes over gambling regulation, consumer-protection rules and authority over sports-betting regulation in prediction markets could eventually be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Forecast Trend Report by Period
Kalshi, the U.S. prediction-market platform, is tightening deposit limits and risk controls to curb excessive trading by younger users.
Bloomberg reported on October 27 that Kalshi will cap monthly deposits at $2,500 for users ages 18 to 20 and apply additional safeguards.
Users in that age group will be automatically shifted into special accounts. Those with balances above $1,000 will receive an alert recommending diversification if they invest more than 25% of their balance in a single prediction contract.
Previously, users largely set their own deposit limits. Kalshi said it had already been monitoring trading patterns among that age group and had contacted users directly when it detected signs of risky trading, urging them to slow down.
Luana Lopes Lara, Kalshi's chief operating officer, said the platform is limited to users 18 and older, like a securities exchange. Because young adults may have less experience with financial markets, the company is expanding education efforts and safeguards. Kalshi also plans to prepare guidance materials for parents on youth financial trading.
The move comes as debate continues over gambling regulation for prediction markets. Many U.S. states strictly limit gambling for people under 21, and regulators and consumer-protection groups argue that similar rules should apply to prediction-market platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket.
Benjamin Schiffrin, director of securities policy at investor advocacy group Better Markets, criticized the deposit cap as evidence of the platform's gambling-like nature. He argued that because a substantial share of Kalshi's revenue comes from sports-related prediction contracts, the platform should face the same consumer-protection rules as traditional sports-betting operators.
A legal fight over who has the authority to regulate sports betting on prediction markets could also reach the U.S. Supreme Court. With both prediction-market companies and state governments asking the court to hear the case, the issue could be taken up as early as 2027.
