Wealthsimple to launch Kalshi-powered prediction market app in Canada

Traders Union
All News
Crypto
Wealthsimple prediction market Canada

Highlights

Wealthsimple is launching Wealthsimple Predict in Canada, offering access to 4,000 Kalshi event contracts after CIRO regulatory approval in March.
Kalshi’s introduction of perpetual futures, including crypto perpetuals, faces legal challenges from CME Group against the CFTC’s product classification and approval in the U.S.
Prediction markets face rising global regulatory hurdles, with Spanish regulators blocking Kalshi and Polymarket in May and U.S. state-federal disputes potentially reaching the Supreme Court.

Canadian launch backed by regulatory approval

As reported by Cointelegraph, Wealthsimple is launching Wealthsimple Predict, a standalone app that gives Canadian users access to about 4,000 event contracts listed on Kalshi across financial markets, economic indicators and climate. The company is introducing the product after the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization, CIRO, authorized it in March to offer prediction market contracts tied to those categories.

Wealthsimple is the second investment dealer authorized by CIRO to offer prediction market trading in Canada. The contracts are regulated as derivatives and must have settlement periods of at least 30 days.

The Canadian expansion also coincides with Kalshi's push beyond prediction markets. On Thursday, the company said its perpetual futures products are now live for trading, following a May 31 announcement marking its entry into the crypto perpetual futures market.

Regulatory pressure builds across derivatives markets

Kalshi's broader derivatives expansion is already drawing resistance from established exchanges in the U.S. On Thursday, CME Group sued the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, CFTC, over its approval of cryptocurrency perpetual futures contracts offered by Kalshi and similar products by Coinbase, arguing the regulator misclassified the products under federal law.

The filing follows comments a day earlier from CME CEO Terrence Duffy that the exchange planned to challenge the approvals in court. The dispute comes as the CFTC in May approved Bitcoin perpetual futures contracts for Kalshi and issued a no-action position allowing Coinbase to offer similar products, while Coinbase and Kraken have also widened access to crypto derivatives.

Prediction markets are also facing resistance outside Canada. Spanish regulators in May ordered internet providers to block access to Kalshi and Polymarket during a gambling rules probe, while authorities in Indonesia, Japan and South Korea have also moved against such platforms.

In the U.S., at least 11 states have challenged prediction markets in recent months over whether event contracts should fall under state gambling laws or federal derivatives regulation overseen by the CFTC. Digital Chamber CEO Cody Carbone said on June 16 that the conflict between the CFTC and state gambling regulators is likely headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Our earlier report on the proposed congressional prediction market ban covered a new House bill aimed at tightening ethics rules by prohibiting Members of Congress and their immediate families from using prediction markets tied to government decisions or elections. We outlined the planned penalties—$2,000 or 10% of the transaction value, plus forfeiture of net gains—and noted that the proposal reflects broader concerns about officials potentially profiting from nonpublic information.

This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.