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Betting site Kalshi is expanding its betting contracts to include political election outcomes in countries worldwide, such as Australia, Canada, Ecuador, and Ireland, in addition to the United States. This move follows Kalshi’s prior success offering bets on US election outcomes, which has set a precedent for other sites like Polymarket. Despite concerns from the Commodity Future Trading Commissions over potential harm to election integrity, some believe these betting markets offer an accurate gauge of public sentiment and contribute positively to the public domain.

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The betting site, Kalshi, has started accepting bets on political election outcomes in countries other than the US. This expansion comes as betting on elections increases, especially ahead of the US Presidential election in November.

The betting contracts now include national races in countries all over the globe, such as Australia and Ecuador. This is according to the official paperwork filed with the Commodity Future Trading Commissions (CFTC).

Kalshi has also started accepting bets for the 2025 elections in Canada and Ireland. This is all in addition to the existing betting options that Kalshi offers for the US federal elections.

As of October 23, the most popular bet on Kalshi is “Who will win the Presidential election?”. This particular bet has had over $52 million wagered on it since it was listed on the site on October 7.

Back on October 7, Kalshi made headlines when they started offering bets on the outcome of the US election. This was a result of a major court victory the previous month.

The win for Kalshi now opens the door for other betting sites, like Polymarket, to offer bets on US election outcomes. The November US election alone already has about $2.3 billion worth of bets on Polymarket.

Looking ahead, 2024 is going to be a big year for elections. More than 75 countries, including many large economies in the EU, India and Russia, will have elections. Other countries, such as Australia, Canada, Ecuador, and Ireland, will hold elections in 2025.

This expansion of election betting doesn’t sit well with everyone. The CFTC has voiced its concerns that this kind of betting could harm the integrity of elections. But, most industry experts actually think these betting markets are a good way to gauge public sentiment. They believe it can be a more accurate source of information than traditional polls.

Despite these concerns, Harry Crane, a stats professor at Rutgers University, has defended these kinds of betting markets. In a letter he sent to the CFTC in August, he said there’s no real proof that these markets are used for any kind of wrongdoing. He also believes they provide a valuable service to the public.

Source: Cointelegraph