TLDR
- Kalshi’s 15-minute gold markets recorded 542 million contracts in September, ahead of Ether’s 318 million.
- Gold generated about $5 million in estimated fees, nearly double Ether’s $2.6 million.
- Bitcoin stayed Kalshi’s top 15-minute market, with about $60.4 million in estimated September fees.
- 15-minute markets produced $20.4 million in fees in the seven days through Oct. 5, about 80% of non-sports fees.
- Kalshi said its commodity markets reached $400 million in trading volume within seven months.
Kalshi’s 15-minute gold markets have passed comparable Ether contracts in trading activity, only weeks after the gold product launched in August.
Gold markets recorded 542 million contracts in September, according to Predict Charts. Ether’s 15-minute markets recorded 318 million contracts in the same month.
Predict Charts estimated that gold generated about $5 million in trading fees in September. That is nearly twice the $2.6 million attributed to 15-minute Ether markets.
How the Gold Contracts Work
Each contract asks traders whether gold will finish above or below a set price when a 15-minute window closes. Kalshi’s market pages show the contracts were active by Aug. 7.
Kalshi uses Pyth pricing data to settle gold outcomes. Pyth was chosen earlier this year as the price source for Kalshi’s commodity products, including silver, oil and agricultural markets.
Ether had a longer head start. Its 15-minute contracts grew to 233 million in July from 6.1 million in January, then rose to 318 million in September.
Bitcoin remains far ahead of both. Its 15-minute markets, launched in December, produced an estimated $60.4 million in September fees, more than 12 times the gold figure.
The fee numbers are estimates based on Kalshi trade records. They are not revenue reported by the company.
Short Markets Drive Non-Sports Fees
An InGame analysis released Tuesday found that 15-minute crypto, commodity and financial markets generated $20.4 million in fees in the seven days through Oct. 5. That was about 80% of Kalshi’s estimated $25.1 million in non-sports fees.
These markets made up 13% of Kalshi’s total trading volume over the period but 20% of its fees. InGame said this is linked to Kalshi’s fee formula.
“Fees are higher as a share of volume on contracts priced at close to 50/50 odds than they would be on the biggest favorites or longshots,” wrote InGame journalist Daniel O’Boyle. Short-term price markets often trade near even odds.
Daily fees from these products reached $3 million or more on four days during the week. The highest was $3.3 million on a Friday.
Non-sports markets accounted for more than 25% of Kalshi’s estimated fee revenue in September. Their share for 2026 through Oct. 6 was 19.2%, up from 11% in 2025.
Kalshi said on Sept. 8 that its commodity markets reached $400 million in total trading volume within seven months. The company said that took about half the time its crypto category needed.
“Crypto markets demonstrated the potential for new categories on Kalshi to scale from tens of millions to billions in monthly volume,” the company said.
Kalshi is reported to be in talks to raise about $1 billion at a valuation near $40 billion. It was valued at $22 billion earlier in 2026, and the new round has not been confirmed as complete.
The company also said in September that it had filed for perpetual contracts tied to gold, silver and platinum. It has not given a launch date.
