NEW YORK, Sept. 30 (CandyPulse) — Kalshi is pulling the plug on one of its main tools for attracting traders. The prediction market said in a filing with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) that it will end its Volume Incentive Program no earlier than Oct. 13, a year ahead of the program's original October 2027 end date, The Block reported.
Key takeaways
Launched in March 2023, the Volume Incentive Program paid traders from reward pools based on their share of eligible trading volume. The goal, Kalshi said, was to boost liquidity and "enhance pricing efficiency": more trading, tighter prices, better markets.
The timing has drawn attention. According to The Wall Street Journal, the CFTC has been examining trades on Kalshi after allegations that repeated trades of around $5,500 inflated volume in its ether perpetual futures. Those trades reportedly accounted for more than $5 billion in ETH perps volume over the past month.
An X account named "Beni" pointed to about $539 million in 24-hour volume against just $3.1 million in open interest on the pair, a gap critics say is a classic sign of wash trading, where the same parties trade back and forth to inflate activity.
Kalshi denies any wash trading. It says the repeated trades came from market makers and faster traders, a normal feature of active electronic markets. Its CFTC filing does not link the end of the rewards program to the allegations.
Volume is how exchanges and prediction markets prove they matter. Kalshi reported a record of nearly $53 billion in monthly volume in September, with the month's data still incomplete. If rewards and possible wash trading played a part in that number, it raises questions about how much of the activity is genuine.
Watch for any formal statement from the CFTC, and for how Kalshi's volumes hold up once rewards end. It's also another front for the platform as House lawmakers widen their probe into prediction markets.
This article is for information only and is not financial advice. The allegations described have not been proven, and Kalshi denies wrongdoing.
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