Option betting market to take USDC deposits
Kalshi will begin accepting deposits in the popular stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) ahead of the US November election, a platform that confirmed on October 28 that the market will be open to users forecasting.
Cryptocurrency deposits will soon go live, managed by ZeroHash, a crypto payment platform, according to a Fortune magazine report.
Competition is heating up among political betting platforms, with Web3 platform Polymarket firmly in the lead and its rivals, including Kalshi, scrambling to catch up.
Source: Kalshi
On October 7, Kalshi listed event terms for betting on US election results after winning a landmark court battle in September.
This is the first time an election prediction market has been allowed to operate in the US. It paves the way for others to enter the fray, including Web3 platforms like Polymarket.
On October 28, the cryptocurrency and stock trading platform Robinhood announced the introduction of contracts for some users to bet on the outcome of the presidential election between Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, $2.6 billion is riding on the results of the November presidential election on Polymarket as of Oct. 23, according to its website.
From October 23, Kalshi Main Market – “Who Will Win the Presidential Election?” – A total of $87 million in betting volume has been raised since listing on October 7, according to the Kalshi website.
U.S. regulators say election prediction markets like Calci's threaten the accuracy of polls, but industry analysts say they often capture public sentiment more accurately than polls.
Three out of four crypto holders say the candidate's crypto policy will influence how they vote. Source: Gemini
Former President Trump is favored to win the presidency by a wide margin on Polymarket and Kalshi. As of Oct. 28, the polls pegged Trump's odds at 62% and 66%, according to both websites.
The November election pitted Trump — who has said he wants to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the world” — against Harris, who has been relatively quiet about the industry.
The performance of Bitcoin (BTC) is creating a “very bullish setup” for the digital asset as investors favor the option, Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, told CNBC on October 28.
Magazine: Bitcoiners are ‘all in' on Trump since Bitcoin '24, but it's getting dangerous
