Kalshi disputes fake volume claims on ether perpetuals

CoinDesk reported that a dispute over the integrity of Kalshi’s newly launched ether perpetual futures has pitted a quant analyst’s forensic findings against the platform’s accounting conventions. Beni, a co-founder of Stealth Neolab, noted that the contract recorded $539 million in 24-hour trading volume while open interest stood at only $3.1 million, a 174x disparity he described as a hallmark of wash trading. He further pointed to $5,500 trade sizes that repeated across four days, accounting for up to 58% of the contract’s volume. Beni also cited a CFTC-filed rebate schedule, which offered a 0.3-basis-point maker rebate while charging takers a 0.3-basis-point fee for Self-Clearing Members, as a likely incentive for such activity.

IcoBeast.eth, who leads product development at Kalshi, rejected the characterization. He stated that the exchange reports volume based on maximum potential payouts rather than cash spent. Under this convention, 100,000 contracts priced at 30 cents register as $100,000 in volume, reflecting the $1 maximum payout despite a $30,000 cash outlay. He said this method is standard among competitors like Polymarket. He also clarified that the platform does not hand-select market makers. “Anyone can become a Self-Clearing Member of a CFTC regulated exchange as long as they meet the regulatory requirements. ‘Fair access’ is a reg requirement for us,” he said.