Kalshi CEO says company thinking about IPO, but not for this year

Prediction market platform Kalshi’s CEO Tarek Mansour confirmed the company is in the early stages of planning a potential IPO in an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

Mansour said a public markets debut of the company won’t come this year, but that it makes sense for Kalshi at this stage of its growth to begin thinking about an IPO.

“A company of our financial profile with the rate of growth that we’re seeing, that sort of conversation has to happen,” he said. “People start asking that question. And we’re basically thinking about it, but obviously, we don’t have an answer yet.”

The Information reported last week that Kalshi was in early talks for a potential IPO, though noted that a listing was unlikely to come until late 2027 or 2028. Mansour on Wednesday did not get specific with a timeline beyond stating that an IPO won’t happen in 2026. 

Kalshi has experienced huge growth over the past year. At the end of June 2025, the company was valued at $2 billion. In May, the company announced a Series F funding round that put its valuation at $22 billion.

Driving that valuation, prediction market industry watchers say, is the opportunity these markets have with institutional traders. While retail users have driven Kalshi’s growth, the company has begun shifting its rhetoric and product development to increase its appeal to Wall Street. 

To gain Wall Street adoption, though, Kalshi will need to quell concerns over potential insider trading on the platforms. Mansour highlighted on Wednesday initiatives the company has taken to do that, including enhanced measures to know who are traders’ employers and its “Know Your Customer” verification requirements. 

He also pointed to cases that Kalshi has brought against individuals to show that its efforts to curb insider trading worries are working. 

“It’s a hard problem,” Mansour said about creating market integrity on the prediction market platform, “but it’s not an impossible one.”

Disclosure: CNBC and Kalshi have a commercial relationship that includes customer acquisition and a minority investment.