Kalshi is backing a newly formed advocacy group, Americans for Fair Markets, in a direct push against sportsbook and casino interests over prediction market regulation. The organization launched on May 22 and said it will work to shape federal policy on prediction markets and federally regulated exchanges while running paid and public-facing campaigns against what it calls false narratives from the gaming lobby.
Kalshi pulls in a former White House aide
AFM named Taylor Budowich as its strategic advisor. Budowich most recently served as Deputy White House Chief of Staff under Susie Wiles. The appointment points to deeper ties between Kalshi and Republican political circles at a time when the prediction market sector is facing closer regulatory attention.
The move comes as opposition groups are organizing as well. FairPredicts, a group backed by casino interests and led by former Governor Chris Christie through the American Gaming Association, recently started a six-figure advertising campaign aimed directly at Kalshi.
Lobbying battle grows as the market expands
John Bivona, an AFM board member and Kalshi’s Head of Government Relations, said the group will not be outspent or out-organized by entrenched interests defending their monopolies. AFM is also set to join the existing Coalition for Prediction Markets, though its role will center more heavily on campaign-style tactics.
The scale of the market helps explain the escalation. Kalshi has posted 32x growth in annualized trading volume, while the broader prediction market industry now accounts for roughly $500 billion in assets and reaches millions of monthly U.S. users. As the sector gets larger, the policy fight around it is becoming more public and more expensive.
Federal rules are moving at the same time
The regulatory setting is shifting quickly. Earlier this month, the bipartisan Gillibrand-McCormick bill was introduced as the first comprehensive federal framework for prediction markets. At the same time, the CFTC is in a rulemaking process that is expected to strengthen consumer protections.
Kalshi has also been pushing on the business side. Bernstein previously described the company’s first bespoke block trade as a milestone for institutional adoption in prediction markets, and Kalshi explored crypto perpetual futures earlier this year. The company has also secured data partnerships with Fox and CNN, placing real-time prediction odds into mainstream news coverage.