Prediction Market: Kalshi’s valuation has doubled to $5 billion in just 3 months. And here’s why.

Prediction markets are booming, and so are their valuations.

Calci in August closed a funding round that valued the prediction market platform at $5 billion, more than double the $2 billion valuation it disclosed in June. According to a spokesperson, Calci has raised $300 million from backers including Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Coinbase Ventures. News of the funding round was previously reported by New York Times.

Prediction markets have taken off this year as they expand their offerings and enter new jurisdictions. According to a spokesperson, Calci’s trading volume exceeded $1 billion in the week ending October 6, a huge jump from the $300 million booked last year. The company’s share of the global forecasting market rose from 3% a year ago to more than 60% in September, according to data provider Dune.

Kalshi, which launched exclusively in the United States in 2021, announced this week that it is expanding to more than 140 countries. Main competitor Polymarket last month got the green light from federal regulators to relaunch in the United States, according to CEO Shane Coplan.

Sports betting has been a major driver of growth. Kalshi in January began offering contracts tied to major sporting events such as the Super Bowl, and last month expanded its sports-related offerings with pre-built and customized investment processes. Kalshi achieved its biggest day ever on September 14, the second Sunday of the 2025 NFL season, “highlighting the platform’s recent growth in the sports category,” according to the company.

The prediction markets’ rapid push into sports betting has been supported by minimal regulatory resistance. Online sports betting companies like DraftKings (DKNG) and Flutter Entertainment’s FanDuel (FLUT) are subject to regulations that haven’t been applied to prediction markets, despite their products being similar.

“It seems as if [the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992] It was canceled with no “State-level regulation, no oversight requirements, and no gaming taxes,” Bank of America analysts wrote about prediction markets in a note earlier this week. “There are few better businesses than untaxed gambling,” they added.

As a result, investors, such as bettors, flock to prediction markets. Polymarket announced earlier this week that InterContinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, will invest up to $2 billion. The deal values ​​Polymarket, which made headlines last year when users accurately predicted the outcome of the US presidential election, at $8 billion, eight times its valuation in August.