Kalshi has partnered with XP International to launch prediction markets in Brazil, although the offering will steer clear of sports event contracts initially.
The deal between Kalshi and XP international will allow clients with an international investment account with the Brazilian financial institution to access prediction markets.
It is Kalshi’s first partnership with a financial institution outside of the US and follows a report from the Wall Street Journal that Polymarket and Kalshi are seeking valuations of $20bn (£15bn) via new funding rounds.
Kalshi will only offer event contracts on financial markets at launch. The Brazilian gambling trade body, Instituto Brasileiro de Jogo Responsável (IBJR), as railed against the company’s move into Brazil.
In a statement, the IBJR said the possible expansion into sports by Kalshi would need to be monitored and managed.
The trade body wrote: “Presenting these models as innovation only masks the legal risk, without changing the economic exposure.
“Allowing equivalent products to operate outside the betting regime means opening space for regulatory arbitrage, with consequences already known: unfair competition, weakening of consumer protection, threat to sports integrity and loss of tax revenue.
“Brazil has recently structured its legislation for fixed-odds betting. Reproducing the same economic exposure by alternative means, without complying with the same legal and tax obligations, does not represent innovation – it is regulatory circumvention. Innovation coexists with rules.”
Brazilian operators are required to pay BRL30m (£4.3m) for a five-year licence and must adhere to regulations since the market went live on 1 January 2025.
Commenting on the deal, Kalshi co-founder and COO Luana Lopes Lara, who from Brazil, hailed event contracts launching in the country as an “important step”.
She said: “As a Brazilian, I couldn’t be more excited for XP to be Kalshi’s first brokerage partner outside the US.
“XP is one of Brazil’s largest financial institutions; expanding prediction markets to Brazil is an important step in providing more people around the world with access to fair, safe and regulated markets.”
Lucas Rabechini, XP director of financial products, added: “XP has always aimed to expand access to new ways of investing.
“Prediction markets introduce a new asset class to the Brazilian market, offering investors one more tool for scenario analysis, positioning and portfolio protection.”
The post Kalshi enters Brazil as trade body rails against presence of prediction markets first appeared on EGR Intel.
New York-based operator partners with XP International to make prediction markets available for investors holding an international investment account
The post Kalshi enters Brazil as trade body rails against presence of prediction markets first appeared on EGR Intel.