Kalshi may go public by the end of 2027 or in 2028.

Written by: Maher, Foresight News

On June 19, The Information reported that Kalshi's annual revenue has exceeded $2 billion and has initiated early, informal discussions with several investment banks regarding its initial public offering (IPO). Just one month ago, Kalshi completed a new funding round of $1 billion, led by Coatue Management, with the company’s valuation skyrocketing to $22 billion. This marks the company's third funding round in seven months, with other investors including Sequoia Capital, a16z, IVP, Paradigm, Morgan Stanley, and ARK Invest.

The IPO discussions are at a very early informal stage. Company executives have only had preliminary contact with investment banks, and there is still a considerable distance until official registration documents are submitted.

Total transaction volume of $52.7 billion, approximately 2 million monthly active users

According to Kalshi data, as of June 22, Kalshi's total transaction volume has risen to $52.7 billion, with an average daily trading volume of $29.27 million. In October 2025, its daily trading volume started to increase exponentially.

Kalshi currently holds over 90% of the U.S. prediction market activity, and its revenue surge is mainly driven by simultaneous increases in trading volume and effective rates. Over the past year, its annual trading volume has surged from about $52 billion to $178 billion. Sports event contracts have contributed the majority of the revenue. The NBA playoffs, the 2026 World Cup-related markets, and collaborations with the National Hockey League (NHL) have attracted a significant number of traders.

By December 2025, Kalshi's annual revenue scale remained at $600 million. In May of this year, Kalshi had approximately 2 million monthly active users, with annual revenue exceeding $1.5 billion.

Additionally, recent developments have seen Kalshi launch Bitcoin perpetual contracts, with its perpetual contract trading platform Kalshi Pro set to be launched this summer.

Since May 2026, Kalshi has maintained a high upward trend in open contract volume, while Polymarket has shown no significant changes.

The lawsuit dispute becomes the biggest variable

The path to Kalshi's IPO is not smooth, with its core risk focusing on jurisdictional conflicts.

Kalshi insists that its event contracts fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the CFTC as "swaps," and state gambling laws should not apply. Since 2026, multiple states have engaged in a tug-of-war with Kalshi. The New Jersey court supported Kalshi's sports contracts, while a federal court in Tennessee granted a preliminary injunction in February 2026, ruling that federal law might take precedence.

Massachusetts courts have ruled that it is bound by state gambling laws, while Arizona has even filed criminal charges against Kalshi, claiming that while Kalshi may claim to be a prediction market, it is actually operating illegal gambling activities and accepting bets on Arizona elections, both of which violate Arizona law. No company has the authority to unilaterally decide which laws to comply with.

Tarek Mansour

Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour responded by stating: "The allegations from the Arizona Attorney General are unfounded and clearly an overreach. If they can bring these criminal charges against Kalshi, they could also bring the same lawsuit against the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and NASDAQ's traditional derivatives, including options trading, interest rate swaps, and grain futures. We have filed a lawsuit against Arizona in federal court. However, the state Attorney General has not only prevented the federal court from substantively hearing the case, but is also attempting to bypass due judicial processes by filing false charges in state court. We will not be intimidated."

The CFTC has taken an active defensive stance and has filed federal lawsuits against states such as Arizona, Connecticut, and Illinois, claiming that its "exclusive jurisdiction" should not be eroded by state law. Meanwhile, both the CFTC and Kalshi are enforcing actions against market manipulation and insider trading.

On June 18, 2026, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman sued Kalshi and Polymarket, accusing them of conducting sports betting without a license, listing partners such as Coinbase, Robinhood, and Webull as relevant parties.

The outcomes of these lawsuits will directly impact Kalshi's sources of sports revenue. If adverse rulings ultimately affect its core product, both its business model and IPO will face significant pressure.

Ideally, it takes 6-9 months from early IPO negotiations to listing. Kalshi only began informal negotiations in June 2026, so the theoretical fastest IPO time would be December 2026, but this requires no delays at any stage, resolution of the lawsuit issues, and coordination with the SEC.

Multiple institutions estimate that Kalshi may go public by the end of 2027 or in 2028.

Since 2025, IPOs of large fintech companies with scales exceeding $1 billion have become common. Companies with revenue scales nearing or larger than this typically raise several hundred million to over $1 billion in primary fundraising. In 2025, Circle went public with a valuation of $8 billion, with its annual revenue around $2 billion, raising a total of about $1.05 billion.

Currently, with a valuation of $22 billion, Kalshi has reached unicorn status, approximately 11 times its annual revenue ($2 billion revenue). If revenue continues to grow at the time of the IPO (driven by sports events and election cycles) and the U.S. stock market maintains a certain level of liquidity, its fundraising amount could far exceed $1 billion. As for the specific amount, it remains to be closely monitored.