There are several barriers to broad adoption of these game-like markets, not least their lack of liquidity
The debate has been reignited by a new “event contract” exchange–a market where traders can buy and sell contracts tied to event outcomes—run by Kalshi, a New York-based startup. The firm has made headlines because it earned approval to run America’s first such exchange without regulatory limits on the scale of activity—a feat that has long eluded its predecessors.
Kalshi’s timing is also opportunistic. Retail traders have ventured far beyond blue-chip stocks to assets such as options and cryptocurrencies. The firm sees event contracts as a natural extension of that curiosity. And Kalshi specifically looks for events ripped from headlines, says Luana Lopes Lara, one of its co-founders. For instance, it launched markets onIn the longer run it hopes to attract more sophisticated investors.