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From CFTC-regulated exchanges to on-chain protocols, we ranked every serious event trading venue on liquidity, fees, settlement integrity, and market variety.
Prediction markets went mainstream after the 2024 US election proved their forecasting power. Total sector volume has passed $8 billion, with Polymarket and Kalshi absorbing most of it.
The 2026 World Cup is the current volume driver — tournament markets alone passed $500 million before the knockout rounds.
Kalshi is the safe, legal option for US residents: CFTC-designated, USD funding, and standard tax reporting. Polymarket offers deeper liquidity and far more markets but operates on-chain and geoblocks US IPs.
Exchanges like Smarkets and Betfair blur the line — they are technically betting exchanges, but their peer-to-peer order books behave exactly like prediction markets with sports-heavy catalogs.
