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The Kalshi knowledge hub

Plain-English answers to how Kalshi and prediction markets actually work, from your first trade to order-book mechanics, fees, and taxes. The stuff that’s usually scattered across Reddit and Discord, in one place.

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Basics

New to Kalshi? Start here.
What is Kalshi?
Kalshi is a CFTC-regulated exchange where you trade Yes/No contracts on real-world events. What …
How does Kalshi work?
How Kalshi event contracts are priced, traded, and settled: the $1 payout model, prices as proba…
Is Kalshi legit and safe?
Whether Kalshi is legitimate: its CFTC regulation, how it differs from offshore prediction sites…
Dollars vs contracts on Kalshi
The Kalshi order panel lets you enter a dollar amount or a number of contracts, and the differen…
How to get started on Kalshi
A simple walkthrough for new Kalshi traders: setting up and funding an account, finding a market…
Depositing and withdrawing on Kalshi
How to move money in and out of Kalshi, which funding methods are free versus fee-bearing, and w…
Kalshi promos and bonuses
Kalshi has offered sign-up and referral promotions at various times. How these typically work, w…
Trading on the Kalshi mobile app
Kalshi's mobile app brings the full exchange to your phone. What you can do, how mobile trading …

Trading mechanics

Order books, order types, fees, and execution quality.
How to read the Kalshi order book
The Kalshi order book shows bids, asks, and depth at each price. How to read it, what the spread…
Limit vs market orders on Kalshi
The difference between market (quick) orders and limit orders on Kalshi, how each affects your p…
Kalshi fees explained
How Kalshi trading fees work: why they are highest near 50 cents, how limit orders can avoid the…
Thin order books and slippage
Why a thin order book can give you a worse price than the quote, how slippage happens on Kalshi,…
Maker vs taker on Kalshi
What maker and taker orders mean on Kalshi, why makers usually avoid fees, and how to trade as a…
How to sell on Kalshi
You don't have to hold to settlement. How selling works on Kalshi, how to exit for a profit or c…
Using the Kalshi API and trading bots
What the Kalshi API offers for automated trading: REST and WebSocket access, API-key authenticat…

Markets

How specific Kalshi markets work and settle.
How Kalshi sports markets work
Sports make up the bulk of Kalshi volume. How sports event contracts work, how they differ from …
How Kalshi markets settle
How a Kalshi market resolves: the resolution rules, the data source, timing, and why reading the…
How Kalshi economic markets work
Trading Fed rate decisions, inflation prints, and jobs reports on Kalshi. How these data-driven …
How Kalshi weather markets work
Kalshi lets you trade temperature, rain, and storm outcomes as Yes/No contracts. How weather mar…
How Kalshi election markets work
Kalshi offers Yes/No contracts on election outcomes that settle on official results. How they wo…
How Kalshi crypto markets work
Beyond perpetuals, Kalshi offers binary event contracts on crypto prices. How these Yes/No marke…

Perpetuals

Kalshi's leveraged crypto futures, explained with the risks up front.
Kalshi Perpetuals explained
Kalshi Perpetuals let you go long or short on crypto with leverage and no expiry. How perps work…
How margin works on Kalshi Perpetuals
Margin is the collateral behind a leveraged perpetual position. How initial and maintenance marg…
The Kalshi perpetuals funding rate
Why perpetual futures use a funding rate, how Kalshi's 8-hour funding works, who pays whom, and …
Liquidation on Kalshi Perpetuals
Liquidation is the forced close of a leveraged position when your margin runs too low. How it wo…
Perpetuals vs buying crypto (spot)
The difference between trading Kalshi perpetuals and buying crypto outright: ownership, leverage…
Order types on Kalshi Perpetuals
The order types available for Kalshi perpetual futures, including market and limit orders and th…

Concepts

The ideas that make prediction markets tick.
What are market makers?
Market makers provide the liquidity you trade against. How they make money from the spread, the …
Kalshi prices as probabilities
Why a Kalshi contract price is the market's implied probability, how to convert it to American o…
What moves Kalshi prices
Kalshi prices are probabilities, so they move when new information changes the odds. How news, d…
Expected value and edge
Expected value is the math behind every good trade. How to compute it on Kalshi, what edge reall…
Are prediction markets accurate?
Prediction market prices aggregate many people's money-backed views. How accurate they tend to b…

Strategy

Sharpen your approach and sidestep common traps.
Common Kalshi beginner mistakes
The avoidable mistakes new Kalshi traders make: market-ordering into thin books, ignoring fees, …
Arbitrage on Kalshi
What arbitrage means on Kalshi, why Yes and No prices summing to under $1 can signal an edge, an…
Bankroll management on Kalshi
Why position sizing and bankroll discipline matter more than any single prediction. A plain-Engl…
Hedging with Kalshi
Kalshi contracts can hedge real-world risks, from weather exposure to economic outcomes. How hed…

Comparisons

How Kalshi stacks up against the alternatives.
Kalshi vs a sportsbook
How trading on Kalshi differs from betting at a sportsbook: exchange versus house, no fixed vig,…
Kalshi vs Polymarket
How Kalshi and Polymarket differ: US regulation and dollars versus crypto settlement, fees, avai…
Kalshi vs Robinhood event contracts
Robinhood event contracts run on Kalshi's exchange, but trading directly on Kalshi differs in or…
Kalshi vs PredictIt
How Kalshi and PredictIt compare: regulated exchange versus academic market, position and fee li…

Taxes

How prediction-market gains are taxed, in plain English.
How Kalshi taxes work: the trader's guide
How event-contract gains on Kalshi are taxed in 2026: the three possible treatments (ordinary in…
Does Kalshi send a 1099?
What tax forms Kalshi actually issues, why there's usually no 1099-B for your trades, and how to…
Are Kalshi contracts Section 1256?
The case for and against treating Kalshi event contracts as Section 1256 contracts, what the 60/…
How to report Kalshi on your taxes
A step-by-step look at reporting Kalshi event-contract gains: gathering records, choosing a trea…
How Polymarket gains are taxed
Polymarket sends no tax forms and settles in crypto, which changes the reporting picture. How to…
Can you deduct your Kalshi losses?
Whether and how Kalshi losses are deductible depends entirely on your tax treatment. How losses …
How prediction-market income is taxed
A plain-English overview of how prediction-market gains are taxed across Kalshi, Polymarket, and…
Robinhood event contracts and taxes
Robinhood event contracts route through Kalshi and come with their own reporting situation. What…
Do you owe quarterly estimated taxes on trading gains?
Trading gains have no withholding, so active prediction-market traders often owe quarterly estim…
How Kalshi perpetuals may be taxed
Perpetual futures are a brand-new product with no specific IRS guidance. Why regulated futures o…
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