Kalshi, Polymarket and Founders Give at Least $5 Million as Scrutiny Grows

Kalshi, Polymarket and their founders have contributed at least $5 million to Republican and Democratic political groups during the 2026 election cycle, Reuters reported on Oct. 22. The increase comes as the prediction market operators face state efforts to regulate their wagers as gambling and federal scrutiny over insider trading and national security concerns.

Reuters described the spending as a sharp increase from the 2024 cycle and the companies’ first significant move into political giving. No West Virginia-specific regulatory or player-access change was reported.

Donations span both parties and state-level groups

Republican groups received $2.7 million, with Democrats receiving the remainder, according to Reuters. The total includes a previously unreported $1 million contribution from Polymarket to House Majority Forward, a Democratic nonprofit that does not disclose its donors.

More than one-third of the money went to state-level groups supporting candidates for governor, attorney general and state legislatures, Reuters reported, citing a CPA analysis.

Kalshi gave nearly $1.5 million to state-level groups, split roughly evenly between the parties. Polymarket gave nearly $250,000 to two Democratic groups and one Republican group, according to CPA data cited by Reuters.

The founders also expanded their political giving. Kalshi’s Luana Lopes Lara and Tarek Mansour had contributed at least $1 million by early October, with about 72% going to Republican causes and candidates, Reuters reported. Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan broadened his giving after previously donating almost exclusively to Democrats.

Regulatory questions remain unresolved

The spending takes place against a dispute over whether prediction market wagers should be regulated as gambling or financial instruments, according to Reuters. The report does not establish that donations produced any particular regulatory outcome.

Kalshi’s head of federal government relations, John Bivona, told Reuters: “Regulation that keeps prediction markets safe for consumers and allows them to grow in America isn’t a partisan issue.”

Reuters also reported Bivona’s statement that Kalshi’s full disclosures would show donations roughly evenly distributed across both parties. That remains the company’s characterization, rather than a replacement for the reported donation breakdown.

A Polymarket spokesperson told Reuters the company engages with all sides of the debate. The report describes continued regulatory scrutiny, not a resolution of the companies’ legal status or a new rule for West Virginia players.

More from playwv.com – Polymarket Seeks Injunction Against Ohio Sports Betting Enforcement – Polymarket Maduro Betting Case Tests Reach of Federal Law – Nearly 150 Tribes Urge Supreme Court to Review Third Circuit’s Kalshi Ruling

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Sources: As reported by Reuters and US News & World Report.