Kalshi's World Cup Surge Triggers $50B Trading, New Users and Regulatory Scrutiny

During the 2026 FIFA World Cup, prediction‑market platform Kalshi added three million new users and saw more than $1.2 billion wagered on its World Cup winner contracts, while total trading across prediction‑market platforms topped $50 billion. Polymarket also recorded massive volumes, handling $4.28 billion on its winner contract and $5.69 billion in combined final‑related trading. Industry analysts estimate prediction markets made up about 27 % of all legal U.S. sports‑betting volume during the tournament, up from roughly 9 % earlier in the year. The rapid growth prompted a U.S. House Agriculture Committee hearing on sports prediction markets and led the Irish gambling regulator to warn the platforms that they could face High Court action unless they fully geoblock Irish users. Kalshi is already banned in Ireland, and Polymarket has added Ireland to its list of restricted jurisdictions.