Kalshi

Is Kalshi safe?

Kalshi is safe in the narrow sense that it is a real, federally regulated exchange: the CFTC oversees it as a designated contract market, member money sits with a regulated clearinghouse, and two-factorTwo-factor authenticationSigning in with a second proof of identity on top of your password, such as a code from an app, a security key or a passkey.More in the glossary sign-in is on by default. The catch is what most people now use it for. Sports contracts that settle within hours work like bets, they are open to 18-year-olds, and courts across the country are split on whether states can ban them. We score Kalshi 51/100.

The App Store listing claims more than 10 million users. Kalshi launched in 2021 and added sports "trading" in 2025, according to New York's attorney general, and that is when the state fights began.

Is Kalshi gambling or trading?

That is the legal question of the year, and the answer depends on the court. The CFTC says event contracts are interstate derivatives that only it can regulate. In August 2026 it used emergency powers to order Kalshi to keep operating after New York sued, and it has filed its own suits against Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

States say a bet on a basketball game is a sports bet whatever it is called. In 2026:

• The Third Circuit upheld Kalshi's injunction against New Jersey on 6 April, 2 to 1. New Jersey has petitioned the Supreme Court (No. 26-299), and Kalshi's response is due on 9 November.
• The Ninth Circuit ruled against Kalshi in Nevada on 28 August, and on 25 September the Sixth Circuit held that federal law does not override Ohio's or Tennessee's gambling laws. Kalshi has asked both courts to rehear the cases, according to a tracker of the cases.
• A Massachusetts judge granted a preliminary injunction in January. It has been paused while the state's highest court decides.
• Court orders now block or limit sports contracts in Michigan, Washington and Nevada, according to the same tracker in mid-October.
• New York sued on 31 July, asking for restitution to users and fines of three times Kalshi's gains.
• Connecticut's Department of Consumer Protection ordered Kalshi to stop offering sports contracts in December 2025, citing bets from under-21s and from people on its self-exclusion list. Kalshi sued to block the order, a federal judge refused in August 2026 and Kalshi appealed to the Second Circuit. The state then sued Kalshi on 26 August, asking a court to stop the contracts.

None of this has produced a fine. Lawsuits are allegations until a court rules, and several rulings so far are preliminary. For a user, the practical point is that a market you can trade today may be switched off in your state next month, so check what the app offers where you are.

Age checks and under-21 users

Kalshi requires users to be 18 and verifies identity before trading. It sends your ID image to a third-party verification firm and keeps only your address, phone number, email and an encrypted Social Security number. That is a reasonable design for a financial account.

The problem is the age line itself. Most licensed US sportsbooks require customers to be 21. New York's attorney general says Kalshi's markets are open to 18- to 20-year-olds although state law sets 21 for mobile sports betting, and cites research linking youth gambling to later gambling harm. A Massachusetts judge noted that users 18 or older can trade there. For a college student, Kalshi is often the easiest legal-looking way to bet on games.

What safeguards against gambling harm does Kalshi have?

The Responsible Risk Management menu offers two tools: a voluntary opt-out that locks you out for a period you choose, and a personal funding cap on deposits. Once set, neither can be lifted before it expires. Kalshi also refers users to Birches Health, a gambling-harm support service, and lists the 988 crisis line.

That is thinner than what licensed sportsbooks in many states must offer, such as time limits, reality checks and statewide self-exclusion lists. Kalshi's App Store listing pitches event trading as "like trading stocks", which can make losses feel like investing rather than betting. There is also a market-integrity angle: in August 2026 the CFTC fined a White House teleprompter operator for trading on advance knowledge of the President's speeches, and thanked Kalshi for its help.

Privacy and your account

The App Store label is the weakest part of Kalshi's privacy record. It lists browsing history, identifiers, usage data and "other data" as used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies, and links your email, device ID and product interactions to you for Kalshi's own advertising. For an app holding your Social Security number, that is more ad tracking than we expect. Cash App, by contrast, declares no tracking data.

Deleting your data is not really possible. Kalshi says federal record-keeping rules mean account records stay, and you can only deactivate the account yourself after closing every position, cancelling orders and withdrawing to a zero balance.

How to use Kalshi more safely

1. Set a funding cap before your first deposit, not after a bad night.
2. On iPhone, choose "Ask App Not to Track" when prompted.
3. Switch two-factorTwo-factor authenticationSigning in with a second proof of identity on top of your password, such as a code from an app, a security key or a passkey.More in the glossary sign-in to an authenticator app and never share a verification code; Kalshi says its staff will never ask for one.
4. If you are under 21, know that your state may treat these contracts as sports betting, and that the legal status may change while you hold a position.
5. If betting stops being fun, use the opt-out, and contact Birches Health through Kalshi's help pages.

How we scored it

Security (64) is the strongest factor, thanks to two-factorTwo-factor authenticationSigning in with a second proof of identity on top of your password, such as a code from an app, a security key or a passkey.More in the glossary sign-in by default and a regulated clearinghouse. Privacy (42) is pulled down by cross-app tracking, and scams and harmful content (40) by fast sports contracts open to 18-year-olds with limited harm tools. The regulatory record (47) reflects many state court orders, Connecticut's cease-and-desist order and two state suits, but no fine. PrizePicks, a pick'em sports app, scores 52.