Kalshi adds a $2,500 deposit limit for traders aged 18-20

Kalshi will put every account held by an 18- to 20-year-old on a $2,500 monthly deposit limit. The prediction market exchange announced the change on 27 October, together with a new alert for new traders who put more than 25% of their balance into one trade. Both features are "rolling out in the coming days", according to Kalshi.

Kalshi lets people trade event contracts: yes-or-no contracts on outcomes such as elections, economic data or sports results, which pay out if the event happens. Kalshi says it is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and accepts traders from age 18. In its announcement, the company says 18- to 20-year-olds will now be "automatically placed into special accounts with extra protections".

What is new

• A $2,500 monthly deposit limit. Every account for 18- to 20-year-old traders will be "defaulted into" this limit.
• A diversification alert. When a new trader with a balance over $1,000 puts more than 25% of that balance into a single trade, Kalshi will show an alert encouraging them to diversify. It is an alert, not a block. The post describes this as applying to new traders; it does not say whether it is limited to the 18 to 20 age group.
• Parents' guides. Kalshi is working with the parent and youth safety organizations ConnectSafely and Parent ProTech on "Parents' Guides to Prediction Markets", aimed at keeping minors off the platform.

The post calls the deposit limit a default. It does not say whether a trader can raise it, or what happens when a trader turns 21.

What was already in place

According to Kalshi, young adult accounts already had these safeguards:

• Monitoring for risky trading, with responses that escalate from educational material to trading blocks.
• After the first trade, prompts to set limits on time and money spent, plus access to confidential mental health support through Birches Health.
• Inner Circle, which Kalshi says lets parents and loved ones get real-time alerts on how much and how often their 18- to 20-year-old trades.

For all traders, Kalshi lists trading breaks, self-set limits and self-exclusion. It says identity checks reject anyone under 18, and it now shows an ID Check tool on its homepage so adults can confirm no one else is using their identity.

What the company said

"Like the stock exchange, Kalshi is available only to traders 18 and older," said Luana Lopes Lara, Kalshi's COO and co-founder. "Still, we know that young adults are often new to markets and may need more education and safeguards, so we are expanding our protections for this group of users." Brock Murphy, CEO of Parent ProTech, said: "Kids should not be on prediction markets."

Why the timing matters

New York's gaming regulator has asked a court to make Kalshi hand over records, including on what Kalshi offers to New Yorkers under 21 and on advertising that describes its products as wagers or bets. In our reading, Kalshi's announcement keeps 18 as its minimum age and adds limits. Gambling Insider reported the change on 28 October alongside a new Kalshi federal lawsuit against Missouri, which had sent Kalshi a cease-and-desist letter over its sports contracts.

For how US lawmakers and regulators are approaching player protections in regulated online gambling, see Pennsylvania's HB 2879 with stake caps and loss limits and New Jersey's at-risk triggers and withdrawal lock.