Kalshi, a US prediction market, set to allow betting on Bitcoin and Ether.

Kalshi, a prediction market based in the United States, is gearing up to launch betting options for the price movements of major cryptocurrencies Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). According to the company’s website, Kalshi will be introducing prediction contracts that will allow its clients to place bets on the price fluctuations of Bitcoin and Ether. Currently, Kalshi’s “Crypto” section on their website offers clients the opportunity to bet on various Bitcoin contracts, including one that predicts when Bitcoin will hit $100,000. There are ten monthly markets available, with the closest one predicting that Bitcoin will reach this value on March 28, 2024. The furthest available bet is set for December 31, 2024. In addition to the Bitcoin contracts, Kalshi also has contracts for predicting the highest price Bitcoin will reach in 2024, as well as the daily price of BTC. The annual price prediction contracts range from $75,000 to $150,000, while the daily prediction contracts span from $66,750 to $70,250. As for Ether, clients can currently only bet on the annual and daily price events. Although the bets are related to cryptocurrency prices, Kalshi’s platform only accepts U.S. dollars for placing bets. Similar to most of Kalshi’s bets, the crypto bets will mostly be “yes” or “no” options across different scenarios. Industry reports suggest that starting from March 18, Kalshi clients will be able to place their first bets on Bitcoin and Ether. Kalshi was founded in 2018 as a financial exchange that offers event contracts, allowing users to bet on various future events such as those related to economy, politics, health, tech, and science. The platform is regulated as a designated contract market under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Bitcoin price predictions have gained popularity recently, especially after Bitcoin reached a new all-time high above $73,000 on March 13. Binance CEO Richard Teng has predicted that Bitcoin will continue its record-breaking rally and surpass $80,000 by the end of the year. Teng expressed confidence in Bitcoin’s success, citing the optimism surrounding the widespread adoption of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the United States. Meanwhile, Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek has predicted that the total crypto market capitalization will surge by 177% to reach $7.5 trillion by 2025.