DraftKings Cofounder Says Kalshi Volume Includes Its Own Market Maker

DraftKings cofounder Matt Kalish accused Kalshi on July 30 of reporting trading volume padded by its own in-house market maker.

In two posts on X, he asked for metrics on Kalshi Trading, an affiliated firm that trades on the platform, and questioned how much volume Kalshi reports "as if it was real."

Volume is the number Kalshi sells to investors. It said on May 7 that annualized volume had more than tripled to $178 billion in six months, as it raised $1 billion at a $22 billion valuation.

Kalshi Trading Shares a Parent With the Exchange

Kalshi Inc. owns the KalshiEX exchange, the Kalshi Klear clearinghouse and Kalshi Trading, a liquidity provider on that exchange, Sportico reported in 2025. Chief Executive Tarek Mansour and Chief Operating Officer Luana Lopes Lara sit on both boards.

Kalshi has said the units operate separately behind informational barriers. No regulator has found wrongdoing.

The disputed metric is notional volume. Contracts count at their $1 face value, and both sides of a trade are recorded, so one bought and sold at 10 cents generates $2 of volume.

"The risk is there ... with affiliated entities that you could have conflicts of interest ... that end up hurting customers."

Former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero made the remark to Sportico about exchanges that own trading firms.

Both Companies Count Volume the Same Way

Kalish left the DraftKings presidency of North America on March 31, 2026 and remains on the board. DraftKings launched its own exchange, DKeX, in June 2026, and reports predictions volume as an annualized figure drawn from a single week, the extrapolation critics use against Kalshi.

The posts extend a fight Kalish opened on July 23 over the exit of Kalshi Chief Financial Officer Saurabh Tejwani. Kalshi communications lead Dani Lever replied on July 24 that the departure had been reported "over a month ago."

The CFTC separately ordered Kalshi in July to honor trades a Michigan court voided. FairGambling covered the Washington injunction against the platform, where a final order is due August 5.