YouTube claims Polymarket and Kalshi are copying crypto’s viral growth playbook

CNBC said Kalshi and Polymarket are starting to look less like niche prediction sites and more like crypto exchanges chasing scale. (cnbc.com) (youtube.com) In CNBC’s April 27 video, reporter Tanaya Macheel said Kalshi was joining Polymarket in introducing perpetual futures, or “perps,” a crypto derivative with no set expiration date. (youtube.com) (news.bloomberglaw.com) Polymarket already has a live Perps page that says its international platform is not regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, while Polymarket US is operated by QCX LLC as a CFTC-regulated designated contract market. (polymarket.com) Kalshi’s public site still centers on event contracts, but it has widened far beyond politics into sports, culture and finance, with markets on the World Cup, Major League Baseball and the S&P 500. (kalshi.com 1) (kalshi.com 2) (kalshi.com 3) That expansion also runs through creators. Kalshi has a “content creators” section with markets on MrBeast, IShowSpeed, Kai Cenat and Streamer Awards outcomes, including some contracts with six-figure volume. (kalshi.com) Polymarket’s growth engine is broader category sprawl. Its “new” page on April 29 showed fresh markets on Iran, James Comey, oil, Congress, Indian elections and sports, with live odds updating across categories. (polymarket.com) Kalshi has also pushed into mainstream distribution. In December 2025, it announced multi-year partnerships with CNN and CNBC to place Kalshi market data across television, digital and subscription products. (news.kalshi.com 1) (news.kalshi.com 2) The regulatory split between the two companies is still sharp. Kalshi markets itself as a federally regulated exchange, while Polymarket paid a $1.4 million civil penalty to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in January 2022 and agreed to wind down noncompliant markets. (kalshi.com) (cftc.gov) Polymarket now says market outcomes are finalized through UMA’s optimistic oracle, and its help center says the platform is non-custodial and cannot reverse finalized resolutions. (help.polymarket.com 1) (help.polymarket.com 2) The CNBC framing is that prediction markets are being built as consumer trading products, not just forecasting tools. Perps, creator markets and media distribution all point in the same direction: more frequent trading, more audiences and more competition with crypto-native platforms. (cnbc.com)