Kalshi Ends Volume Rewards Program Amid Prediction Market Milestone

Kalshi's Volume Rewards Program has reached its end date of October 13. The news comes on the heels of a significant milestone for prediction markets, which have surpassed $20 billion in weekly trading volume for the first time. According to data from the final week of September 2026, aggregate trading volume reached $20.4 billion, with Kalshi processing $15.8 billion of this global volume.

This achievement marks a major milestone for prediction markets, which have been gaining traction in recent years. However, it also raises questions about the sustainability and regulation of these markets. The CFTC has flagged manipulation risk in certain types of contracts on prediction markets, including 'mention' contracts. Kalshi has denied allegations of wash trading after nearly 1 million identical $5,500 trades were detected in its ETH perps market.

The CFTC has also greenlighted tokenized assets and blockchain records for US commodities firms, allowing customer funds to be invested in tokenized versions of already-permitted assets. Meanwhile, the 'BlackRock Effect' is being felt as major asset managers develop infrastructure for an increasingly convergent financial system built on AI and tokenization.