Wealthsimple announced the release of Wealthsimple Predict, providing retail investors the ability to trade event contracts on Kalshi. The standalone application is scheduled to launch this summer. Through the app, users will have access to approximately 4000 Kalshi event-based contracts in categories Wealthsimple is authorized to offer in the Canadian market, specifically climate, financial markets, and economic indicators.

“Prediction markets are the fastest-growing segment of global financial markets, letting traders turn an opinion into a position on the factors that shape our world – where inflation is headed, what happens to rates, or how the year unfolds. Until now, Canadians have had limited access. Wealthsimple Predict gives Canadians a clean, well-designed way to access these markets, with education and guardrails built in from day one,” said Brett Huneycutt, co-founder and Chief Product Officer, Wealthsimple.

“Kalshi was founded on a simple belief: views on the future should have markets, and those markets should be available to everyone. That’s why we’re partnering with Wealthsimple, Canada’s leading financial innovator – to give everyday investors in Canada access to fair, secure, and regulated prediction markets,” said Alex Cuoci, Kalshi.

In March, the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) authorized Wealthsimple to offer event and forecast contract trading, also known as prediction markets. These contracts are regulated as futures contracts (derivatives). The approval covers contracts with a 30-day settlement period or longer, within the categories of economic indicators, financial markets, and climate. Wealthsimple is the second investment dealer to receive regulatory approval from CIRO for prediction markets.

To access trading through Wealthsimple Predict, new clients must complete a standard Know Your Client (KYC) process. Education is built into every stage of the experience, including a guided orientation of a client’s first trade. The app also shows users key disclosures and definitions, including trading risk reminders, contract resolution information, notices that positions can be sold at any time, and liquidity risk warnings on lower-activity markets. Wealthsimple Predict will only be available to Canadian residents.

Kalshi is authorized to operate in the US as an event contracts exchange, with federal authority from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the regulatory authority for the U.S. derivatives market. Prediction markets follow the same regulatory framework applied to other financial assets traded in the US, such as equities, bonds, and traditional derivatives, with clear rules for price formation, settlement, and governance.

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman announced on Wednesday that his office has filed separate lawsuits against three online platforms he claims are operating without licenses and engaging in illegal sports betting and gambling.

The lawsuits were filed in Franklin Circuit Court against:

Kalshi, a prediction market platform, and its affiliates including Coinbase;

Polymarket, a prediction market platform, and its affiliates; and

VGW, an online casino platform with brands including Chumba Casino, Global Poker, and LuckyLand Slots.

The suits against Kalshi and Polymarket allege that they allow users to place wagers on game winners, point spreads and player statistics, and that they are doing business in Kentucky without a gaming license or following state regulations.

The suit against Kalshi states that it offers so-called “event contracts” on several topics; sports betting made up approximately 70% of its trading volume during a selected sample period in 2025.

The Polymarket suit states that the platform’s flashy advertisements on social media and elsewhere give the false and misleading impression that it is authorized to offer sports wagering under Kentucky law. The platform offers many of the same traditional sports bets as a licensed sportsbook.

“Kalshi and Polymarket are operating illegal sportsbooks in Kentucky and breaking our laws. These multi-billion dollar corporations and their legal fictions don’t pass the sniff test. As one of our state legislative leaders said it best, ‘If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck’,” said Coleman on the suits.

The suits also allege that each company offers few or no resources to identify or seek help for a gambling problem.

The suit against VGW and its affiliates states that they allegedly operate unlawful sweepstakes casino websites that use two different types of virtual gambling chips.

The games on websites are designed to look and feel like slot machines and blackjack.

The alleged online casinos offer two types of chips: one free and one with cash value.

According to the suit, users pay real money for so-called Sweeps Coins, just as gamblers pay for poker chips at a real casino, or they can cash out their winnings.

“This company may use new technology and a new scheme to hide, but the reality is the same,” Coleman said on the suit. “Our Office has a duty to stop illegal gambling in Kentucky regardless of how it’s packaged.”

In recent months, Coleman has joined in national bipartisan efforts to regulate prediction markets.