Kalshi in Talks to Raise Funds at $65 Billion Valuation as It Eyes Compute Futures

Prediction markets are rapidly evolving from niche event-betting venues into major financial exchanges. According to reports from Bloomberg and Reuters on November 12, 2026, prediction-market platform Kalshi is in talks to raise a fresh round of funding at a $65 billion valuation. Coming just weeks after the company closed a $1 billion financing at a $40 billion valuation in late October, the new discussions highlight extraordinary investor appetite for high-velocity derivative exchanges.

From $22 Billion to $65 Billion in Six Months

Kalshi's valuation trajectory in 2026 reflects explosive commercial momentum. In May 2026, the company was valued at $22 billion. By late October, Sequoia Capital and Wellington Management co-led a $1 billion round at $40 billion—a raise widely expected at the time to be Kalshi's final private financing prior to an initial public offering. Now, negotiations are already pointing toward a $65 billion mark.

The steep step-up is underpinned by surging platform activity. Kalshi's monthly notional contract volume expanded from roughly $40 billion in August to nearly $100 billion in October, propelled heavily by sports and political event contracts. That surge has pushed the company's annualized revenue run rate past $5 billion, with gross margins reported near 90 percent.

Building a Compute Futures Exchange

Beyond headline valuation figures, Reuters noted a strategic product ambition behind the new capital raise: building a dedicated trading platform for compute futures.

Under such a framework, market participants could trade or hedge contracts tied to the future pricing of GPU and cloud computing capacity. As artificial intelligence workloads turn raw compute into one of the world's most constrained industrial commodities, compute futures could reshape how AI infrastructure is financed:

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• Cost Hedging for AI Labs: Model developers and enterprise cloud buyers could lock in predictable compute expenses ahead of major training runs or inference spikes.
• Revenue Certainty for Data Centers: Hyperscale and neocloud operators could hedge future GPU cluster yields in liquid derivative markets.
• Direct Rivalry with Legacy Exchanges: Expanding into standardized compute derivatives positions Kalshi in closer competition with entrenched institutional exchanges such as CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).

Governance Shifts and the Polymarket Rivalry

Alongside the fundraising talks, Kalshi has also adjusted its corporate governance. The company recently severed advisory ties with Donald Trump Jr., whose venture firm, 1789 Capital, simultaneously expanded its stake in Kalshi's chief rival, Polymarket. Industry observers note that separating those ties helps simplify political optics as federal lawmakers and regulators prepare closer scrutiny of prediction markets.

CFTC Scrutiny Across Prediction Markets

Rapid expansion has inevitably drawn sharper oversight from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). According to recent reports, the regulator privately notified Kalshi of potential enforcement action tied to procedural compliance—specifically examining whether the exchange followed proper agency notification protocols before listing certain product contracts. Kalshi has maintained that the issue stems from a procedural error involving a handful of mostly unreleased contracts.

At the same time, the CFTC has been reviewing whether Polymarket fully complied with prior settlement restrictions barring U.S. users from accessing its offshore venue, even as Polymarket expands its regulated domestic footprint. Despite heightened regulatory friction, Kalshi's pivot toward $100 billion monthly volumes and AI compute derivatives places it squarely at the intersection of fintech and artificial intelligence infrastructure.