A trader claims Kalshi's crypto volume is inflated, citing an ETH-PERP market with $3.1M open interest against $538.6M in 24-hour volume—turnover of 174x, or once every 8 minutes 18 seconds—while the top leaderboard position holds only $17,598. He points to a CFTC filing extending a rebate program giving selected market makers +0.3bp against takers' -0.3bp, netting zero fees, and a Bloomberg-reported Jump Trading partnership exchanging liquidity for equity. He also alleges Kalshi displays contract counts with a dollar sign, overstating dollar volume. Kalshi's crypto lead dismissed the wash-trading claim, citing trading fees.

AI summary of the linked source — not editorial content.

Story signal · how it spread on X · via Elfa

as of
thread quiet
Spread
i
Distinct X and Telegram accounts Elfa counted behind this story’s reports, summed over the thread. Not posts, not impressions.
24 accounts

first post
Leviathan +14.2 h later

KALSHI reaction
i
Price change from the first post to 24 hours later (CoinGecko). BTC over the same window is shown so a market-wide move is not mistaken for a reaction to this story. Not advice.
+0.3% 24h after post

$909.12 → $911.81
BTC 0.0% same window

ETH reaction
i
Price change from the first post to 24 hours later (Hyperliquid). BTC over the same window is shown so a market-wide move is not mistaken for a reaction to this story. Not advice.
+0.3% 24h after post

$2,633 → $2,640
BTC 0.0% same window

Thread · 4 events · started 29 Jun 14:35 · 1 disputed · last update 22 Sep 11:18 · quiet
  1. DisputedKalshi accused of faking crypto trading volume4 acc.
  2. UpdateTraders question Kalshi’s reported crypto volume figures3 acc.
  3. Leviathan published this article
  4. UpdateKalshi accused of fabricating Perpetual Protocol trading volume4 acc.
  5. UpdateKalshi faces cross-source allegations of wash trading and inflated futures volume13 acc.

All times UTC.

Cited posts

  • @beniduboss BeniFirst reportOn X ↗

    This thread is 100% gonna blow up and I am gonna look like a salty c****again but @icobeast pissed me off so now it's gonna get ugly Kalshi fakes their crypto volume and I can prove it NOTHING pisses me off more than watching a company treat its own customers like complete… https://t.co/1LWMVGVaeU

  • @0xcyp cyp.ethOn X ↗

    💀💀💀 https://t.co/ldtEIckoy5

  • @Smart_Money Smart Money CryptoOn X ↗

    🚨 KALSHI: DIE VORWÜRFE WERDEN KONKRETER! Gestern früh stand an dieser Stelle ein Satz, der seit gestern Abend nicht mehr stimmt. Dass die Zahlen in diesem Streit niemand außer den beiden Seiten nachgerechnet hat. Innerhalb eines Tages haben es mehrere getan, und dabei ist etwas…

Show 3 more cited posts
  • @BlockBeatsAsia BlockBeats｜We're hiring!On X ↗

    https://t.co/sBIZWRP2eS

  • @ErikOnChain Erik 🏛️On X ↗

    Hilarious that @Kalshi are paying nearly every influencer from from bad to good to promote their futures trading platform. Completely illiquid, market market wash trading garbage, number one place to trade to get murdered on fees and slippage. As with any new perp "exchange"…

  • @Crypto_Briefing Crypto BriefingOn X ↗

    https://t.co/RA06awotbM

18 more accounts posted about this · 3 Telegram channels (no public link)

TradersTrader calls tracked by Elfa · not advice

Whole crypto market, not this story

Crowding75th percentile · vs last 28 days, 50 typical
Pulse 24h30/100 · unusualness of new calls, 0–100, 50 typical, higher means more long than usual
Book97.3% long · 11,904 accounts

As of 20 Sep 14:00 UTC.

Social-monitoring data, not investment advice Elfa prices CoinGecko prices Hyperliquid post text from Xas of

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