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If you want a U.S.-focused alternative to Kalshi, start by separating the exchange that lists an event contract from the app or broker that gives you access. Polymarket US and ForecastEx are listed as CFTC-designated contract markets (DCMs). Robinhood, Coinbase, and Webull are described in a 2026 CFTC filing as futures commission merchants (FCMs) that offer event contracts through DCM partners. Crypto.com is the business name associated in the CFTC register with the North American Derivatives Exchange. These are different kinds of alternatives, with different contract catalogs, resolution rules, costs, liquidity, eligibility, and customer-service paths.
The practical answer is to compare the specific contract and its legal venue, not just the logo on the app. The CFTC register is the best starting point for checking a venue’s designation and entity name, while the contract’s own rules control how an outcome is settled.
What counts as a Kalshi alternative?
“Kalshi alternative” can mean three different things:
- Another designated exchange: A DCM lists contracts, publishes its rulebook, operates the market, and determines settlement under those rules. Polymarket US and ForecastEx fit this description in the cited CFTC records.
- An intermediary or access route: An FCM may provide the customer account, order screen, funding workflow, and statements while routing trades to one or more DCMs. Robinhood, Coinbase, and Webull are described this way in the CFTC’s June 23, 2026 filing.
- A similarly named but legally different service: The offshore/global Polymarket exchange is not the same venue as Polymarket US. A U.S. product, an offshore product, and an app that routes to a DCM can have different rules and availability.
That distinction matters whenever you compare fees, dispute procedures, market hours, withdrawal rules, or state access. A familiar app name does not tell you which exchange wrote the contract or who makes the final settlement decision.
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Regulated alternatives at a glance
| Platform or entity | Role supported by the cited records | Date or identifying detail | What to confirm before trading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polymarket US (QCX LLC) | CFTC-designated contract market offering event-contract swaps | Designation listed July 9, 2025 | That you are using the U.S. venue, plus its current contract catalog, eligibility, fees, and resolution rules |
| ForecastEx LLC | CFTC-designated contract market | Designation listed June 24, 2024 | Which products are currently offered to your account and how each contract settles |
| Robinhood Derivatives | FCM offering event contracts through DCM partnerships | Role described in the CFTC’s June 23, 2026 filing | The partner DCM for the contract, all trading and withdrawal costs, and account eligibility |
| Coinbase Financial Markets | FCM offering event contracts through DCM partnerships | Role described in the CFTC’s June 23, 2026 filing | The underlying DCM and the contract-specific rulebook rather than assuming the app is the exchange |
| Webull | FCM offering event contracts through DCM partnerships | Role described in the CFTC’s June 23, 2026 filing | Current market availability, costs, and eligibility for your jurisdiction |
| Crypto.com | The CFTC register says the North American Derivatives Exchange does business as Crypto.com | Entity and trade name can differ | Which legal entity operates the product and what event contracts are actually available |
This is a useful shortlist, not a complete census of every entrant. The CFTC register contains additional DCMs, and the Congressional Research Service (CRS) describes a wider ecosystem with multiple business models.
How event contracts work
Most event contracts are structured as swaps with a binary or otherwise defined outcome, an expiration, and a fixed settlement amount that is often $1. A yes/no contract may pay $1 if the stated event occurs and $0 if it does not. Other contracts combine several yes/no outcomes or pay according to a range of results.
Price is an implied probability, not a promise
If a Yes contract trades at $0.62, the market is expressing roughly a 62% probability before fees, taxes, and other frictions. A buyer who holds it through a Yes settlement receives the contract payout, so the illustrative gross gain is $0.38 per contract before costs. If the outcome is No, the buyer can lose the amount paid. The displayed price can move as information, orders, and liquidity change; it is not a guaranteed forecast.
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Settlement is defined by the rulebook
The event wording should identify the qualifying outcome, the data or authority used to determine it, the deadline, and the procedure for an ambiguous or disputed result. Two platforms can list contracts about the same broad subject while using different cut-off times, statistical sources, or definitions. Read the exact rule before treating prices as comparable.
Exiting before expiration
Some contracts can be sold before settlement, but an early exit depends on another trader taking the other side at an acceptable price. A thin market can produce a wide spread or prevent a prompt exit. A regulated venue may have surveillance and market-integrity rules, but those protections do not guarantee liquidity or a profitable closing price.
What to compare between platforms
1. Legal role and underlying venue
Record the legal entity shown in the account agreement, then identify whether it is the DCM listing the contract or an FCM routing your order. If an intermediary is involved, note the partner exchange for each market. This prevents an app-level comparison from hiding different contract rules.
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2. Contract language and resolution source
Compare the event definition, qualifying time zone, measurement period, source of record, settlement deadline, correction policy, and treatment of ties or incomplete data. The CFTC says customers should receive clear information about contract terms and how settlement determinations are made. Save a copy of the rule or contract specification when you enter a position because wording can matter more than the headline topic.
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Look for commissions, exchange and regulatory charges, bid-ask spread, funding costs, withdrawal charges, and any penalties or adjustments described in the account agreement. The cited material does not establish a current, apples-to-apples fee schedule for the named alternatives, so do not assume that a zero-commission claim means zero cost. Check the order preview and the fee disclosure for the exact contract and account type.
4. Liquidity and order handling
Inspect the visible bid, ask, recent volume, and depth at the price you need. A market with many listed events may still be difficult to trade if activity is concentrated in only a few contracts. Confirm whether the interface supports limit orders, whether orders can be canceled, and what happens to open orders at expiration or during a trading halt.
5. Eligibility and geography
Account eligibility can depend on residence, age, identity verification, product approval, and state-level developments. A DCM designation does not by itself prove that every contract is available to every U.S. resident. Check the current onboarding screen, customer agreement, and contract-specific restrictions for your state instead of relying on an old availability list.
6. Funding, withdrawals, and records
Review supported funding methods, settlement timing, withdrawal limits, identity checks, tax documents, and how positions and cash are reported. These operational details are supplied by the intermediary or exchange and can differ even when two apps route to related venues.
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7. Complaints and customer protection
Find the formal complaint channel, escalation process, and the entity responsible for safeguarding customer funds or records. Intermediated trades may involve protections and obligations that differ from direct exchange access. “Regulated” means the venue operates under a regulatory framework; it does not remove market loss, technology, counterparty, or operational risk.
Platform-by-platform guide
Polymarket US: a separate U.S. DCM
The CFTC register identifies QCX LLC doing business as Polymarket US as a DCM designated on July 9, 2025. The CFTC filing describes it as offering event-contract swaps. Treat this as a U.S. venue distinct from the offshore/global Polymarket exchange, which CRS says is not effectively subject to CFTC rules in the same way.
For a comparison, open the U.S. entity’s contract specification and verify the market’s resolution source, settlement time, order mechanics, current fees, and eligibility. Do not infer that a contract listed offshore is available, worded identically, or legally equivalent on Polymarket US.
ForecastEx: a designated market with product availability to verify
ForecastEx LLC appears in the CFTC register as a DCM dated June 24, 2024. That designation establishes the venue’s regulatory status in the register; it does not establish that its catalog, retail access, or fees match Kalshi or any other platform.
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Before opening a position, check which events are currently listed, the minimum and maximum order sizes, settlement authority, and the process for correcting an outcome determination. If the market you want is absent, a different DCM or an intermediary partnership may be the relevant route.
Robinhood: an FCM access route
The CFTC’s June 23, 2026 complaint describes Robinhood Derivatives as an FCM offering event-contract swaps through DCM partnerships. That means the app can be the customer-facing route without being the exchange that wrote the contract.
When comparing it with a direct DCM interface, identify the partner venue shown in the product disclosure. Compare the all-in order cost, available contract list, order types, cash handling, statements, and the procedure for a contract dispute. Availability can change as partnerships and state requirements change.
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Coinbase: identify the partner DCM for each contract
The same CFTC filing describes Coinbase Financial Markets as an FCM offering event contracts through DCM partnerships. Do not describe Coinbase as the venue for every event contract merely because the trade begins in its app. The relevant contract rulebook belongs to the partner DCM named in the disclosure.
Use the order ticket and legal documents to determine who settles the event, what fees apply, and whether the product is approved for your account. A crypto-focused interface does not change the underlying event-contract payoff or its settlement definition.
Webull: another intermediary model
The CFTC filing also identifies Webull as an FCM offering event contracts through DCM partnerships. Its practical appeal may be a familiar brokerage workflow, but the decision still turns on the underlying exchange, contract wording, liquidity, and total cost.
Confirm current market availability and eligibility before transferring funds. If two apps provide access to the same DCM contract, compare execution quality, displayed depth, account servicing, and withdrawal terms rather than assuming the products are different.
Crypto.com and the North American Derivatives Exchange
The CFTC register notes that the North American Derivatives Exchange does business as Crypto.com. Corporate and trade names can make this relationship easy to misread, so check the legal entity in the current disclosure and confirm which event products it actually offers.
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Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What “regulated” does and does not mean
A CFTC designation indicates that the named entity is listed as a designated contract market or, for an intermediary, that it operates in an FCM role described in the applicable records. It does not mean an outcome is certain, that prices are accurate, or that a customer cannot lose money.
The CFTC’s consumer guidance says customers should receive timely, transparent information about contract terms, prices, payouts, and who determines settlement. It also describes exchange surveillance, rules against manipulation and insider trading, and protections for intermediated trades. Those measures address market integrity and disclosure; they do not guarantee a liquid market, a particular return, or the absence of outages and disputes.
The legal map is still changing
On April 28, 2026, the CFTC said Congress gave it exclusive jurisdiction over derivatives, including event contracts traded on DCMs, and described litigation against states. That statement is the agency’s position, not a final nationwide judicial ruling.
A CRS report dated March 20, 2026, says states have challenged that position and that the broader jurisdiction question remains in litigation. The June 23, 2026 Kentucky complaint names Kalshi and Polymarket US as DCMs and Robinhood, Coinbase, and Webull as FCMs partnering with DCMs; statements in a complaint are allegations by a party, not findings by a court.
Because access and state-level disputes can change, read the current platform disclosures and check the latest CFTC and court information before relying on an availability claim.
Sports contracts and what the volume figures mean
Sports has become a major category in event-contract trading. CRS reported that about 87% of Kalshi’s $39.7 billion traded during the year ending February 2026 was sports. The same report said sports represented 38% of $36.2 billion traded on Polymarket over that stated period.
These are CRS-reported historical figures, not current platform totals or a forecast of future activity. They show why a platform’s sports catalog and liquidity can dominate a casual comparison, but they do not establish that every sports market is liquid, profitable, or available in every state.
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- Define the event you actually want. Write down the outcome, date, geography, and acceptable settlement source. If no platform states those details clearly, do not trade the contract.
- Verify the legal venue. Use the CFTC register to check the entity and designation, then read the app’s disclosure to identify the DCM or FCM involved.
- Read the complete contract rule. Locate the qualifying condition, time zone, source of record, deadline, correction procedure, and dispute process.
- Price the whole transaction. Add the spread, stated fees, funding or withdrawal costs, taxes, and the potential loss of the amount paid. Compare the result with the contract’s fixed payout.
- Check execution conditions. Look at live depth and recent activity. Decide whether you need a limit order and whether you could exit before settlement.
- Confirm account access. Complete the platform’s eligibility and identity checks and verify that the exact contract is permitted for your location.
- Document the position. Keep the contract specification, order confirmation, and settlement notice. These records help you understand a later dispute or tax question.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
- Comparing an app with an exchange as if they were the same product: identify the underlying DCM first.
- Treating a displayed price as a guaranteed probability: remember that it is a changing market price and that costs can reduce returns.
- Ignoring the settlement source: a familiar event name can conceal a different statistic, deadline, or correction rule.
- Assuming regulation guarantees liquidity: a supervised market can still have a wide spread or no buyer at your preferred exit price.
- Using an old state-availability list: access and litigation are moving targets; check the current terms at account opening and before trading.
- Confusing the U.S. and offshore versions of a service: confirm the legal entity and domain shown in the account agreement.
- Relying on a party’s legal filing as a final ruling: distinguish agency statements and complaints from court decisions.
Bottom line
For a regulated U.S. alternative, compare Polymarket US and ForecastEx as DCMs, and treat Robinhood, Coinbase, Webull, and the Crypto.com/North American Derivatives Exchange relationship as access or entity questions that require venue-level verification. The strongest choice is the platform whose contract language, settlement source, liquidity, total cost, eligibility, and complaint process fit your specific event—not necessarily the app with the most recognizable name.
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