Polymarket Loses Market Share to Kalshi as Valuation and Regulatory Challenges Intensify

BlockBeats News, April 23rd. According to Bloomberg, Polymarket, which has long dominated the prediction market trading volume, is facing multiple challenges. Data from Dune Analytics shows that its global trading volume has been surpassed by its main competitor, Kalshi. In terms of valuation, Kalshi announced last month that its valuation reached $22 billion after a new round of financing, while Polymarket, after receiving a $600 million investment from Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), is valued at $15 billion.

Polymarket's biggest bottleneck lies in its inability to officially launch in the U.S. market. Its U.S. application is still in the testing phase, and its March trading volume was only one-twentieth of Kalshi's. Technical challenges brought by blockchain architecture, repeated delays in product launches, recent fee adjustments leading to user dissatisfaction, and past incidents of the exchange being offline for over an hour continue to plague the platform.

Furthermore, Polymarket has faced scrutiny as it allows users to bet on controversial topics such as war and nuclear explosions, prompting Democratic lawmakers to write to the CFTC requesting intervention.