CFTC investigating unusual $5B trading pattern on Kalshi's Ethereum perpetual futures market; Kalshi denies wash trading allegations.
DeFi & Yields ·
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is examining trading activity in Kalshi's Ethereum perpetual futures market, where roughly one million transactions have concentrated around a $5,500 order size, generating over $5 billion in total volume. Kalshi has rejected wash trading allegations, attributing the clustering to standard market-making execution and asserting that systems prevent and track self-trading.
The investigation reflects growing regulatory pressure on the platform. Kalshi is simultaneously contending with lawsuits regarding unlicensed sports betting operations and regulatory actions initiated in New York. The firm has maintained internal controls designed to prevent user-driven manipulation of contracts, though the concentration of trades at a single order size has drawn official scrutiny.
The source and scope of the CFTC's inquiry—including what specific violations or behaviors are being assessed and whether enforcement action is anticipated—remain unclear. Kalshi's characterization of the pattern as a byproduct of normal market mechanics has not been independently verified against the regulator's preliminary findings.