Kalshi is rolling out new safeguards to prevent minors from trading as political and regulatory pressure on the fast-growing industry intensifies.

Prediction markets such as Kalshi and rival platform Polymarket allow users to wager on outcomes ranging from elections to sports and weather, drawing criticism from lawmakers who argue the products closely resemble gambling.

Under the new measures, minors will be barred from trading entirely, though the company said underage users will still be able to observe market data and “build a critical lens of the news.” 

The platform is also strengthening account security, requiring Face ID by default where available, along with selfie verification and two-factor authentication.

Kalshi said it is also introducing tools to detect unauthorised account access, “to ensure no one bad actors, minors, etc. uses another person’s account against our policies.”

The company is also expanding transparency features. “We’re introducing a social feature called Inner Circle, where users can choose to give friends and family access to view their trading activity,” Kalshi said, adding that approved viewers will receive real-time alerts tied to account activity. Additional safeguards are aimed at curbing excessive trading.