Kalshi’s 15-min gold markets overtake Ether just weeks after launch

Kalshi’s 15-minute gold markets generated nearly twice the estimated trading fees of equivalent Ether markets in September, just weeks after their August launch. 

The gold contracts, which let traders take positions on whether gold will rise or fall over 15-minute intervals, generated about $5 million in estimated fees during the month, compared with $2.6 million for Ether contracts, according to Predict Charts. Bitcoin remained the dominant market, generating $60.4 million in estimated fees.

The growth in short-duration gold markets comes as Kalshi’s broader commodities business has been expanding. The company said in September that commodities trading volume had reached $400 million within seven months, more than four times the volume its crypto markets had generated at the same stage. 

“Crypto markets demonstrated the potential for new categories on Kalshi to scale from tens of millions to billions in monthly volume,” the company said. 

Data show that after launching in December, 15-minute Bitcoin markets became Kalshi’s biggest market series outside parlays in July. The short-duration Ether contracts also saw rapid growth, increasing to 233 million contracts from 6.1 million between January and July 2026. 

But despite Ether’s 15-minute contracts climbing further to 318 million in September, they were overtaken by gold, which recorded 542 million contracts traded that month. 

Related: Kalshi in advanced talks to raise new funding at $40B valuation: Reuters

Short duration markets make up most of non-sport fees 

Short duration financial markets are also becoming a larger part of Kalshi’s business. An InGame analysis on Tuesday found that 15-minute crypto, commodity and financial markets generated $20.4 million in fees in the seven days through Oct. 5, accounting for 80% of the platform’s non-sport fees during the period. 

The analysis also found that 15-minute markets generate higher fees. InGame estimated that over the last week, short-duration markets accounted for 13% of Kalshi’s trading volume but 20% of its fees. 

“This is because Kalshi uses a fee formula that depends on the odds of a contract — fees are higher as a share of volume on contracts priced at close to 50/50 odds than they would be on the biggest favorites or longshots,” wrote InGame journalist Daniel O’Boyle. 

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