Kalshi, the regulated prediction market platform, announced Tuesday it will start asking users to reveal their employers as part of a new push to root out insider trading and market manipulation. The requirement applies only to markets the company deems at higher risk for abuse—meaning traders who want to bet on certain events will now have to share where they work before they can place orders.
Why Kalshi Is Asking for Employer Names
The move comes as prediction markets draw growing scrutiny from regulators and the public over the potential for traders with non-public information to profit unfairly. Kalshi operates under oversight from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and its contracts cover real-world events—from economic releases to political outcomes. In a statement Tuesday, the company said that requiring employer disclosure is a targeted step to spot conflicts of interest before trades happen. A user working at a government agency, for instance, might have advance knowledge of policy decisions that could move certain markets.
The new policy is not blanket. Kalshi said it will apply the employer disclosure requirement only to markets it identifies as facing a higher likelihood of insider trading or market manipulation. That means most everyday prediction contracts—sports, entertainment, or routine economic data—may not trigger the rule. But for contracts where inside information could give a trader an edge, the platform will block new bets until the user submits their employer information.
Which Markets Are Affected
Kalshi did not publish a specific list of the high-risk markets, but the company said the designation will be based on factors such as the type of underlying event, the concentration of potential insiders, and historical patterns of suspicious activity. The platform already uses surveillance tools to monitor for irregular trading behavior; the employer disclosure gives it another layer of data to compare against those patterns.
For users who trade across multiple markets, the requirement is not universal. A trader active in both low-risk and high-risk markets will only have to disclose their employer when entering the high-risk ones. Kalshi said it will notify users when a market falls under the new rule.
How the New Rule Will Work
When a user tries to place a trade on a restricted market, the platform will prompt them to enter their current employer. Kalshi said the information will be verified but did not specify the verification method. Users who decline to provide the data will not be able to participate in that market. The company added that employer data will be kept confidential and used exclusively for compliance and surveillance purposes.
Existing users may already have employer info on file if they registered as institutional accounts or underwent enhanced due diligence; Kalshi said those records will be cross-checked against the new requirement. For retail traders who trade casually, the new step adds friction—but only on the specific markets flagged as high risk.
Broader Context on Prediction Market Oversight
The announcement lands as federal regulators and lawmakers debate how to police prediction markets for insider trading. Unlike traditional stock or commodity exchanges, prediction markets often hinge on non-financial events—election outcomes, legislation, corporate milestones—where the line between legitimate research and inside information can blur. Kalshi's approach is to target the disclosure requirement preemptively rather than after an investigation.
Other platforms have taken varied approaches. Some rely on self-policing; others ban trading on events that could involve company insiders. Kalshi's employer-disclosure method is among the first to directly tie participation to transparency about a user's professional connections.
The rule is effective immediately, meaning any user trying to enter a flagged market from Tuesday onward will need to supply their employer information or be locked out. Kalshi said it will continue to refine which markets are covered and may expand the requirement if patterns of abuse emerge.
