Updated
Updated · CNBC · Aug 31
Kalshi Taps Alpaca's 14 Million Accounts to Push Event Contracts Abroad
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Aug 31

Kalshi Taps Alpaca's 14 Million Accounts to Push Event Contracts Abroad

3 articles · Updated · CNBC · Aug 31

Summary

  • Kalshi will distribute its event contracts through Alpaca’s brokerage infrastructure, giving Alpaca-linked individuals and businesses outside the U.S. a faster path to access the products once local approvals are secured.
  • 14 million brokerage accounts and more than 300 financial-institution partners made Alpaca attractive to Kalshi, while Alpaca said customer demand for prediction markets drove its move into event contracts.
  • Earlier this month, Alpaca registered with the CFTC as a U.S.-licensed futures commission merchant, a step that lets it facilitate derivatives trading and underpins the new partnership.
  • 83,000 monthly API users could also help broaden adoption, as automated trading tools are already common among prediction-market participants.
  • The deal extends Kalshi’s international push after its June partnership with Canada’s Wealthsimple, though both companies said scaling event contracts globally will take time.

Insights

How will plugging prediction markets into millions of brokerage accounts alter the way everyday investors hedge against global uncertainty?
Will international regulators embrace event contracts as financial tools, or ban them as high-stakes gambling disguised as investing?
Could the global boom in prediction markets accidentally create the ultimate playground for corporate insider trading?