Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of President-elect Donald Trump, has joined prediction market platform Kalshi as a strategic advisor.
The move highlights Trump Jr.’s growing interest in technology and financial innovation. Kalshi, founded in 2018, allows users to bet on real-world events, including politics, weather, and current affairs. The platform gained prominence after U.S. courts approved election betting last year.
Kalshi secured court approval to list prediction contracts on U.S. Congressional control after a legal battle with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. A federal appeals court overturned the CFTC’s prior denial, allowing the regulated startup to offer these event markets.
In a post on social media platform X, Trump Jr. explained his decision to join Kalshi, citing the platform’s accurate predictions during the 2024 presidential election. He noted that Kalshi provided clarity about the Republican victory hours before traditional media outlets reported it.
“I immediately knew I had to contribute to their mission,” Trump Jr. wrote, praising Kalshi’s approach to delivering insights through prediction markets.
Prediction markets like Kalshi allow users to wager on the outcomes of specific events. For instance, users can bet on the number of executive orders a president will sign or the likelihood of a Senate confirmation vote.
Another notable prediction market in mainstream happenings is Polymarket. Both Kalshi and Polymarket use real-time data and crowd sentiment to generate probabilities, often providing faster insights than traditional polls or news outlets.
Kalshi and crypto
Kalshi introduced cryptocurrency deposits using the stablecoin USDC (USDC), integrating crypto into its services. In contrast, Polymarket is a decentralized prediction market on blockchain that utilizes cryptocurrencies for transactions, covering diverse topics like politics and global events. It gained traction during the 2024 U.S. elections but has faced regulatory challenges in the U.S.
Both platforms underscore the growing intersection of prediction markets and cryptocurrency within decentralized finance. While Kalshi adheres to regulatory guidelines, Polymarket leverages blockchain’s decentralized features, offering different approaches to event-based speculation in the crypto space.
