According to the report, the decision for Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., to step down from Kalshi came after Republicans suffered a heavy defeat in the midterm elections and Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress. However, Democrats have pledged to investigate the Trump family's business ties in the prediction market and cryptocurrency sectors.
Trump Jr. served as an official adviser to both Kalshi and its main rival Polymarket. His investment firm 1789 Capital invested in Polymarket. On the other hand, he received a share of ownership in Kalshi as compensation for working as its adviser.
A Kalshi spokesperson told Bloomberg, ‘After his investment in a rival company last summer, we decided to end Don's advisory role by mutual agreement. We are grateful for his contribution to making Kalshi known to more customers.’
Earlier, Kalshi announced the appointment of Trump Jr. as an adviser shortly before Donald Trump was sworn in as president for the second time. The company described him as a ‘supporter’ of the sector. It was also said that he would advise only on marketing strategy, not regulatory matters.
During the 2024 US presidential election, Kalshi's prediction markets showed Donald Trump with a much higher probability of winning. At that time, although public opinion polls indicated a neck-and-neck race between the two candidates, the company came into discussion because of this.
Opposition to prediction markets has mainly come from Democrats. However, several Republicans have also expressed concern about it. Several US states have also sued Kalshi and Polymarket. They allege that these platforms are violating state gambling laws.
Incidentally, a ‘prediction market platform’ refers to an online platform where people can take positions with money on whether an event will happen in the future. For example—whether a candidate will win an election; whether a country will win the World Cup. Basically, on such platforms people invest money on possible outcomes. And Kalshi and Polymarket are two such companies. Simply put, Kalshi and Polymarket are essentially online platforms for betting on future events.
