TLDR
- Kalshi says the CFTC has not contacted the company and it does not believe a formal examination is open.
- A Wall Street Journal report said the regulator was reviewing repeated trades clustered near $5,500 in Kalshi’s Ether perpetual market.
- Those similar-sized trades added up to more than $5 billion in Ether perp volume over the past month.
- Kalshi blames the pattern on liquidity incentive programs that pay market makers to post fixed-size orders.
- The company denies wash trading, saying hundreds of separate takers traded against one market maker’s orders.
Prediction market platform Kalshi said it has not been contacted by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The company also said it does not believe any formal examination has been opened into its trading activity.
The statement came after reports that the regulator was looking at unusual trading patterns on the platform. Kalshi says the patterns have a simple explanation.
“We have not been contacted by the CFTC and don’t believe there is any formal examination,” Kalshi spokesperson Elisabeth Diana said. “As we’ve said, these data patterns are typical of liquidity incentive programs and common in financial markets.”
CoinDesk reported early Tuesday that most trading volume on Kalshi’s bitcoin and ether perpetual markets came from identically sized trades. Many ether perp trades clustered around $5,500. Bitcoin perp trades clustered around $2,500 or $5,000.
The Wall Street Journal reported similar data later that day. The Journal said the CFTC was examining trading activity after nearly one million trades in an ether market were placed in similar amounts.
According to that report, the regulator was reviewing the data before deciding whether to open an enforcement investigation. The Journal cited a person familiar with the matter.
Where the $5 Billion Figure Comes From
The trades happened in Kalshi’s perpetual futures market for Ether. In these markets, users speculate on the price of an asset without owning it.
The Journal reported that trades of roughly $5,500 each accounted for over $5 billion in Ether perp volume over the past month.
BREAKING: The CFTC examines Kalshi's trades following allegations that the platform inflated ether perp futures volume with repeated trades of roughly $5,500 each. pic.twitter.com/wnEpqgFNtL
— MSB Intel (@MSBIntel) September 23, 2026
The activity first drew attention from Beni, a co-founder of research firm Stealth Neolab. He said Kalshi’s ether perpetual recorded about $539 million in 24-hour volume against just $3.1 million in open interest.
Beni later found that trades of exactly $5,500 made up 48% to 58% of notional volume on four days in September. He said the figures came from Kalshi’s public API.
Kalshi launched its perpetual futures markets in May. A week after launch, the company told CNBC that trading volume had passed $1 billion.
The Journal also reported that Kalshi offered some traders the chance to buy equity in the company if they hit trading-volume targets. It said the company waived trading fees and made monthly cash payments to encourage large traders to provide liquidity.
Company Rejects Wash Trading Claims
In a blog post on Wednesday, Kalshi said the repeated trade sizes come from programs that pay market makers to keep buy and sell orders available at set sizes and price ranges. It said those payments reward the availability of orders, not executed volume.
The post did not directly address the equity-purchase opportunity tied to volume targets.
Market makers quote prices they will buy and sell at, giving other traders ready counterparties. Traders who accept those quotes are called takers.
“The fixed size trades are entirely consistent with a single maker putting up resting orders of a fixed size and getting traded against by many takers,” Kalshi said. It said the takers were “pretty consistently right” and the maker “pretty consistently wrong.”
“This is a sign of genuine economic activity rather than wash,” the company said.
Wash trading involves transactions designed to create the appearance of activity without a real change in exposure. Asked about protections, Diana said Kalshi has “tons of tools” and a “full surveillance team in place.”
Diana said Kalshi sends data to the CFTC daily and that routine review is not unusual. She called much of the online discussion “rumors seeded by competitors.” The CFTC had not returned a request for comment sent Tuesday.
Stop guessing and start investing with confidence. KnockoutStocks gives you the AI insights, market intelligence, and stock research you need to spot opportunities, cut through the noise, and make smarter investment decisions — all in one powerful platform.
Sign up today and get 50% OFF full access to our premium stock picks.
Simply use coupon code SPECIAL50 at checkout to claim your exclusive discount.
Get 3 Free Stock Ebooks
Discover top-performing stocks in AI, Crypto, and Technology with expert analysis.
- Top 10 AI Stocks - Leading AI companies
- Top 10 Crypto Stocks - Blockchain leaders
- Top 10 Tech Stocks - Tech giants
