Kalshi promotions offering new customers randomized bonuses worth as much as $2,000 remained available in early October, weeks after US derivatives regulators warned prediction-market operators about incentive schemes based on chance.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Division of Market Oversight issued an advisory on August 12 outlining expectations for incentive-program filings by designated contract markets. The regulator said it had identified procedural and substantive problems in a growing number of filings, particularly those connected to event-contract products.
According to Gambling Insider, CFTC staff specifically cautioned against sweepstakes-style incentives in which the size of a reward is determined partly or entirely through randomized or game-like mechanisms. The guidance also raised concerns about promotions designed to guarantee profits or compensate users for losses.
Despite that warning, at least four Kalshi promotional codes — AMNY, GOAL2000, MILE and RAD2000 — were still being advertised in early October with randomized rewards.
Under the AMNY promotion, new customers depositing at least $10 and completing $25 in trades could receive a bonus of $10, $25, $50, $100 or $2,000. Similar promotions advertised through Goal.com, Denver Stiffs and Crossing Broad also offered randomized rewards with a maximum value of $2,000.
None of the four promotions reviewed by Gambling Insider disclosed the probability of receiving each reward level. An earlier Kalshi promotion offering up to $500 did publish probabilities, including a 70% chance of receiving $15 and a 0.35% chance of securing the maximum $500 payment.
Kalshi filings follow CFTC advisory
CFTC records cited by Gambling Insider show Kalshi submitted a Deposit and Trading Reward Incentive Program filing on September 15 and another filing under the same title on September 25.
The first filing came one day after a September 14 deadline referenced in the CFTC guidance for amendments to existing incentive programmes. Public records do not establish whether those submissions covered the $2,000 randomized offers being promoted in October.
Kalshi had also moved to discontinue a separate Volume Incentive Program, which distributed rewards according to users’ trading volumes. However, that filing did not address the sign-up bonus campaigns, which remained available afterwards.
Other affiliates offered fixed-value incentives rather than random payments. RotoGrinders promoted $25 in trading credit after $25 in trades, while CBS Sports advertised a $55 credit through its CBSSPORTS55 code after users completed the same trading requirement.
Those fixed promotional credits expire after seven days and must be traded before any resulting profit can be withdrawn.
CBS expands its relationship with Kalshi
The promotions have attracted additional attention because Kalshi has also become a commercial partner of CBS News.
CBS News confirmed on September 30 that it is using Kalshi as its prediction-market sponsor for coverage of the 2026 US midterm elections. Kalshi market data is being incorporated alongside polling and other political indicators to show how prediction-market traders are assessing election outcomes.
The sponsorship is expected to run through Election Day on November 3. CBS News has not publicly disclosed the financial terms of the agreement.
At the same time, CBS Sports has published numerous articles promoting Kalshi sign-up offers through affiliate links. Gambling Insider identified at least 10 articles centred on the CBSSPORTS55 promotion, including four published between October 3 and October 6.
The articles state that CBS Sports may receive a commission when readers follow its links and subsequently register, deposit funds or trade. Several of the pages were connected to NFL or college football events.
Gambling Insider also found inconsistencies among CBS Sports pages concerning where Kalshi promotions were available. One page said Kalshi operated across all 50 states while excluding sports contracts in Nevada, while another listed additional state restrictions.
CBS Sports had not responded to questions about those differences or about the relationship between its affiliate promotions and the separate CBS News sponsorship at the time of publication.
The situation highlights growing regulatory and commercial scrutiny around prediction markets as platforms such as Kalshi expand beyond financial trading into sports, politics and mainstream media partnerships. The CFTC’s August guidance remains a staff advisory rather than a new Commission rule, but it signals closer oversight of how prediction-market operators use bonuses and other incentives to attract customers.