# Kalshi Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/kalshi/ 14 people recommended Kalshi in Hacker News comments, 11 had mixed feelings and 138 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 12 months, in 10 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule. These are opinions from Hacker News comments, not financial advice. **Verdict:** Criticized more than recommended: critics say it works mainly as sports betting with addiction and insider-trading concerns; those who recommend it cite useful real-time event probabilities and programmatic access. Summary written by Claude from the comments below. ## What people warn about - Mainly sports betting or gambling (6 comments in the sample): "I'm actually a very active Kalshi user, but I cannot see how anyone can seriously argue that it's not sports betting" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48201144)) "Despite the headlines, Kalshi and Polymarket are mainly just sportsbooks." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48200319)) "Kalshi et al are obviously gambling, and yet somehow all the laws about gambling have been politely forgotten by law enforcement." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48805636)) - Encourages addiction and predatory betting (3 comments in the sample): "Their right to pillage the public and create a new generation of addicts is more important than what people want or what’s good for them." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49277997)) "I can’t imagine that the extreme accessibility and the typical dark patterns deployed by every popular app won’t eventually end badly." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48638881)) "They have different predatory incentives, benefitting from encouraging people to make a large number of slightly stupid bets" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49970702)) - Skirts laws and regulators (2 comments in the sample): "They basically did an Uber on the law, completely ignoring how it had long been interpreted and demanding someone stop them." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49486127)) "They were already illegal! Why be careful, they know they’ve got the social trend and the regulatory bodies on their sides." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49211573)) - Insider trading and manipulation concerns (2 comments in the sample): "I really don’t understand how these markets survive a competent DOJ considering the rate they’re having to ban people for “insider trading" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49552002)) "Making them markets also frees them to manipulate and trade against their users covertly in ways that cannot be detected" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49253100)) ## Why people recommend it - Useful information on real-world events (2 comments in the sample): "occasionally tried checking Polymarket and Kalshi to get an idea of the general political/cultural/technological consensus" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46682670)) "a glance at polymarket or kalshi is often enough to know whether something is actually happening" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48179951)) - Exchange structure makes betting fair (1 comment in the sample): "Kalshi is only your broker and exchange, so dealing with them is materially less risky in my mind." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48641376)) - Regulated with KYC and CFTC oversight (1 comment in the sample): "Kalshi has no loophole. The Ninth Circuit ruled on exactly this last week." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49554177)) ## What people recommend instead - [Polymarket](https://hackerapproved.com/p/polymarket/): 39 recommend, 25 mixed, 272 criticize ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Kalshi", https://hackerapproved.com/p/kalshi/ (14 recommend, 11 mixed, 138 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 3 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.