Prediction markets platform Kalshi said it is expanding surveillance efforts via an independent advisory committee and new partnerships to better detect insider trading and market manipulation, a move announced days before Super Bowl 60. The committee will provide quarterly briefings to Kalshi’s outside counsel and publish statistics on investigations into suspicious activity on the platform.
Kalshi said it is teaming with crypto trading surveillance firm Solidus Labs and Daniel Taylor, director of the Wharton Forensic Analytics Lab, to “detect, investigate, and address market abuse.” The announcement comes as more than $168 million in bets have already been placed on Kalshi for the Super Bowl.
Federal lawmakers and regulators are increasing scrutiny of prediction markets. A bill introduced last month would restrict trading by government insiders after a Polymarket user reportedly profited from bets tied to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro placed days before U.S. forces captured him. Kalshi is also facing actions from some U.S. state regulators that contend sports-event contracts amount to illegal gambling, a position Kalshi disputes.
Kalshi’s surveillance committee includes Wharton’s Daniel Taylor and Lisa Pinheiro, a managing principal and data scientist at Analysis Group who focuses on market manipulation. Kalshi appointed its lawyer, Robert DeNault, as head of enforcement to coordinate with the committee. The company also hired Brian Nelson, a former U.S. Treasury official who worked on terrorism and financial intelligence, to advise on trading surveillance and compliance.
Separately, the Financial Times reported Kalshi is seeking regulatory approval to offer margin trading in the U.S. People familiar with the matter said the move aims to attract more institutional investors. Margin trades on event contracts would be structured similarly to traditional futures—investors post a fraction of contract value and settle the full amount at close—and Kalshi has been in talks with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for months to enable such trading.
