Kalshi’s Tarek Mansour Declares ‘Brutal, Bloody War’ for Prediction Markets’ Survival
“We are in a brutal, bloody war,” Tarek Mansour, CEO of Kalshi, declared on X, describing the legal fight to secure the right of prediction markets to exist. Facing opposition from “100 tribes, 34 states, dozens of self-interested gambling advocacy groups, countless genius ‘LinkedIn lawyers,’ and predatory” forces, Kalshi is battling to maintain its innovative platform. Amid this struggle, Mansour highlighted Q2 2025 as “explosive,” with significant advancements in markets, sports, product development, broker networks, liquidity, and viral marketing.
Scaling Markets and Sports Offerings
Kalshi’s mission to “cover the news—all of it” fueled a 1.7x increase in news coverage, expanding to 1,500 live markets from 1,200, despite scaling challenges.
“As we scale, even tiny errors compound—but we keep raising the bar,” Mansour noted. In sports, Kalshi scaled its offerings 10x, covering every major league and achieving a record $86 million traded on the Masters 2025, tripling Super Bowl volume.
“We went from zero to a major player in one quarter,” he said, crediting rapid deployment and obsessive iteration led by Xavier’s team, enabling legal trading in all 50 states.
Advancing Product and Broker Networks
Product development surged at “supersonic speed,” with revamped app navigation, enhanced search across app and web, a sleeker web order panel, and a redesigned onboarding process for sign-ups and deposits.
“Much more work” is planned to refine search functionality, Mansour added. The broker network “exploded” to nearly 20 partners, who are listing more markets at a faster pace, boosting accessibility.
“Our broker partners are deepening their engagement,” he stated.
Liquidity grew substantially in market coverage and available funds, with community traders, full-time market makers, and partners like SIG delivering a “world-class experience.”
Mansour highlighted that “multiple folks are on track for seven figures this year,” with customer complaints about liquidity serving as a key metric. Kalshi’s marketing hit new heights with “the most viral, fully AI ad ever made,” garnering over 100 million views, and a second out-of-home campaign across Oklahoma, NYC, California, and Texas.
Mansour celebrated prediction markets becoming a “cultural phenomenon,” citing live trading on events like the NYC Democratic nominee, a new pope, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court election.
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