Overview
- A quantitative analyst on X alleged on Monday that Kalshi’s ether perpetual logged about $539 million in 24‑hour volume while open interest was roughly $3.1 million and that many trades repeated a $5,500 size.
- The analyst pointed to a CFTC filing for a temporary rebate schedule that can offset maker and taker fees and argued that near‑zero net fees for some clearing members could create an incentive to self‑trade.
- Kalshi’s crypto product lead replied on X by saying the critic mixed up prediction‑market charts with perp data and explained the platform reports volume as the maximum payout value rather than the cash exchanged.
- Kalshi also said it does not offer rebates on its crypto prediction contracts, that rebate rules exclude self‑matching and suspected abusive trades, and that it uses market surveillance to flag wrongdoing.
- The ether‑perp product is still new, no independent audit or regulator has confirmed the claims, and the dispute could prompt closer exchange or CFTC review of trade records and incentive controls.