Prediction market platform Kalshi has introduced new technology to keep minors away from its website.
This comes after years of ignoring a common loophole where young people use their parents’ identities to register.The announcement was made by CEO Tarek Mansour at the Semaphore World Economic Summit.
Source: @semafor
Resolving this issue has significant financial and legal implications for the platform, which has $626 million in open interest. Getting this right is critical to your company’s future.
Using family members to detect underage gambling
Kalshi has released three tools that work together. The first option is the parent portal. This allows parents to submit their ID to the marketplace even if they don’t want to transact.
This allows you to determine if someone opened an account using your ID without your knowledge.
The basic concept is to put the onus on the account owner to prove that the account is genuine, rather than leaving everything up to the platform.The second tool uses artificial intelligence to verify selfies. When registering, you must include a photo of yourself.
The algorithm then matches this selfie with the ID photo they provided.
If the faces don’t match, your account will be flagged just before it’s approved.
The last feature is known as the Family Account, or Inner Circle. This allows groups of friends and relatives to track each other’s trading activity on the site.
Mansour explained that it is not a means to control excesses, but a tool for good. This allows those close to the user to identify whether someone is overspending or gambling too much.
The timing of this announcement is critical.
The UK is currently conducting a public consultation on minimum age requirements for such platforms. This process is expected to be completed on May 26, 2026.
By releasing these features quickly, Kalshi stays ahead of the competition.
This makes it more difficult for regulators in the United States and elsewhere to prove that prediction markets can be used by underage users.
Not everyone is satisfied with the measures
Critics believe that parent portals only work if parents use them.
Many parents may not know this tool exists or may not check it regularly. This reduces the potential impact of this feature in everyday scenarios.
Family account services also imply that customers are willing to let their next of kin track their wagering amounts. This can alienate users who value their privacy.
There are also business concerns.
Each additional verification step increases the time and effort required to complete the sign-up process.
Research shows that increased registration friction causes a significant number of potential users to abandon a site altogether.
The 18-24 age group is typically very active on such platforms, but they may be the most likely to abandon rather than complete lengthy and complicated sign-ups.
Other platforms are also paying close attention. Services such as Polymarket offer clear choices.
They could compete with Calci by enforcing stricter compliance rules or simplifying processes to attract customers who find Calci’s new standards too difficult.
There’s also the question of whether these measures represent a genuine effort to address the problem or are merely intended to show regulators that platforms are taking action.
The parent portal and selfie check provide an additional layer of authentication.
However, we cannot guarantee that all motivated users will not be able to find a workaround.
One number explains why this is so important.
Prediction accounts account for only 1% of the total stakes on the platform. However, it accounts for 13% of the total trading volume.
This makes ensuring proper access to these high-value accounts much more than just a compliance task. It has a direct impact on the health and development of your business.
