Phantom Starts a Staged US Launch of In-Wallet Prediction Markets

US users of Phantom can now trade prediction markets in the wallet, under a staged launch that began Friday and runs through Kalshi, in what Phantom called its first US integration.

Phantom introduced Kalshi-powered prediction markets in December, promoting them as trades that needed no separate account. The US version needs one. General Counsel Kevin Jacobs wrote that Kalshi “approves and holds users’ trading accounts, and executes the trades they submit using Phantom.”

Jacobs said Phantom sought its no-action relief with this product in mind. CFTC staff granted that relief in March, agreeing in Staff Letter 26-09 that Phantom need not register as an introducing broker, subject to 10 conditions. Users must sign up as direct members of the exchange and remain able to reach it without Phantom, and Phantom and each exchange or broker it works with must agree to be jointly and severally liable for violations by Phantom or its personnel. Staff extended similar relief to other software providers in September.

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Before a first trade in Phantom’s mobile app, users pass Kalshi’s identity checks, which can ask for a Social Security number and a US government ID, and Phantom either creates a Kalshi account or links an existing one. Balances stay apart: money held on Kalshi’s own app or site doesn’t appear in Phantom, and vice versa, Phantom’s help center says.

Users pay from their Phantom Cash balance or with any Solana token. Funds move to Kalshi for each purchase, and sale proceeds or winnings come back to Cash via Stripe. Phantom charges $0.01 per contract on top of Kalshi’s own $0.01 exchange fee, plus a variable network fee for moving money to Kalshi. Phantom warns that a lack of buyers can leave users unable to sell “even when your position shows a profit.”

Kalshi’s vice president of business development, Max Crowley, said in Phantom’s post that “Phantom did the regulatory work up front, and it’s a model for how prediction markets can reach more people.”

Phantom’s post says only that markets depend on availability in certain jurisdictions. Jacobs told The Block the company is “confident and comfortable” amid state lawsuits, and the outlet reported that market restrictions apply in Michigan, Nevada and Washington.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Sept. 2 that she had won a preliminary injunction requiring Kalshi to geofence the state out of its sports contracts, with violations carrying a $500,000-a-day fine. Federal appeals courts have split on whether those contracts are swaps under CFTC jurisdiction, and New Jersey officials have asked the Supreme Court to review a Third Circuit ruling for Kalshi.

Related Listen: Bits + Bips: Is Kalshi Headed to the Supreme Court Next?

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