Kalshi stated it has not received any inquiries from the CFTC and does not believe a formal review is underway, following a series of similar trades (about $5,500 each) on its Ether perpetual futures market totaling over $5 billion in the past month. The company attributed the anomaly to liquidity incentive programs and rejected allegations of wash trading.

Repeated Lot Sizes Linked to Quote Incentives, Not Volume

In a blog post, Kalshi explained that the fixed trade sizes result from programs that pay market makers for maintaining quotes of a set size within a specified price range. According to the company, these payments reward the availability of orders, not the volume of executed trades.

One Market Maker, Hundreds of Takers; Takers Profitable

Kalshi noted that the fixed trade size aligns with a model where a single market maker posts constant-size quotes, while many participants trade against them. The company estimated that hundreds of different traders took part in these trades; takers were "consistently correct," while the maker incurred losses, indicating genuine economic activity rather than wash trading.

Incentives for Large Traders and Growth in Perpetuals

It was reported that Kalshi offered certain participants incentives to support liquidity—including fee waivers, monthly payments, and the opportunity to purchase a stake upon reaching target volumes; the company did not directly comment on this point in its publication. Kalshi's perpetual markets launched in May; a week after launch, the company reported trading volumes exceeding $1 billion.