Denitsa Tsekova and Bobby Allyn
Bloomberg News
(TNS)
Donald Trump Jr. is leaving his role as an adviser to Kalshi Inc., ending a role that has created political headaches for the prediction market platform.
The departure comes as Democrats take power in Congress with promises to scrutinize the Trump family’s business ties to prediction markets and the crypto industry.
Trump Jr. has been an official adviser to both Kalshi and its primary rival, Polymarket. His firm 1789 Capital has invested in Polymarket and he was also given Kalshi equity as compensation for his work as an adviser.
A Kalshi spokesperson attributed the change to the Polymarket investment.
“We have mutually agreed to end Don’s advisory role after his firm’s significant investment in a competitor this past summer. We are grateful for his contributions in helping us market Kalshi to more customers,” the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for Donald Trump Jr. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kalshi announced Trump Jr.’s role right before Donald Trump’s second inauguration. At that time, Tarek Mansour, Kalshi’s chief executive officer, said Trump Jr. would advise the firm on strategy, including on how to expand. Kalshi has described Trump Jr. as a “fan of the industry” who only provides advice on “marketing strategy,” not regulatory matters.
The popularity of Kalshi was supercharged when the platform gave Trump good odds of winning the 2024 election even as polls suggested a close race.
Since Trump took office, his appointees at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have taken a more permissive approach to prediction markets as the industry has expanded rapidly and moved into areas like sports betting that were previously off-limits.
The pushback to prediction markets has been led mostly by Democrats, but a number of Republicans have recently expressed concern with the spread of the industry. Several states have sued Kalshi and Polymarket, arguing that they have violated state gambling laws.
(With assistance from Annie Massa.)
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Tags: Congress, election, Kalshi, markets, polymarket, prediction markets, Technology, trump
