TLDR An analyst flagged $539 million in 24-hour Ethereum perpetual volume on Kalshi against just $3.1 million in open interest. Kalshi’s crypto lead IcoBeast disputed the claims, saying one cited chart measured prediction market activity, not perpetual futures. Prediction markets recorded $7.64 billion in weekend volume on Sept. 19-20, up 20% from the prior weekend. Missouri’s attorney general sent cease-and-desist letters to six operators, including Kalshi, Polymarket and Robinhood. Senate Banking Republicans will hold a prediction market roundtable this week with Kalshi taking part.
Kalshi is facing questions about its reported crypto trading volume. A quantitative analyst claims some activity on its new cryptocurrency perpetual futures may be artificially inflated.
The analyst, known as Beni, is co-founder of Stealth Neolab. He pointed on X to about $539 million in 24-hour Ethereum perpetual volume, compared with just $3.1 million in open interest.
This thread is 100% gonna blow up and I am gonna look like a salty c****again but @icobeast pissed me off so now it’s gonna get ugly
Kalshi fakes their crypto volume and I can prove it
NOTHING pisses me off more than watching a company treat its own customers like complete… https://t.co/1LWMVGVaeU
— Beni (@beniduboss) September 19, 2026
Open interest is the value of positions still outstanding. The figures put daily volume at roughly 174 times open interest.
Beni also found a repeating trade size of about $5,500. He said it made up 48% to 58% of Ethereum perpetual volume across four separate days.
Kalshi Disputes the Claims
Beni pointed to a Kalshi incentive program filed with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. It offers reduced fees and rebates to eligible traders, which he argued could make fake trading cheaper.
However, the program specifically excludes suspected self-matching, wash trading and other abusive practices