Kalshi opened an office in Washington, D.C., with the intention of deepening direct engagement with federal regulators and legislators. To accomplish this, Kalshi appointed John Bivona as head of federal government relations.
The launch of Kalshi’s Washington office will be led by John Bivona, appointed as Head of Federal Government Relations. Bivona brings nearly two decades of political experience, including service as a White House liaison at the Department of Homeland Security.
Another key figure in this operation is Blake Bee, who was hired to coordinate state-level advocacy, leveraging his previous experience at Amazon and the National Association of Attorneys General.
Financially, Kalshi increased its spending in 2025 to support its institutional push and gain political influence. The company reported spending of $440,000 from January to September 2025 and a total of $615,000 for the year.
The platform reported $6.58 billion in trading volume in December 2025 and projected that it would reach approximately $9.1 billion by January 2026. In this way, kalshi is far ahead of its rivals in this type of activity.
Legal obstacles facing Kalshi
Kalshi’s strategy of prioritizing its activity at the federal level clashes with active enforcement at the state level. Several states, including Arizona, Tennessee, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, have challenged Kalshi’s sports contracts as unlicensed sports betting.
A federal judge in Nevada ruled in 2025 that state gambling laws apply to some contracts, a decision Kalshi is appealing, while a Tennessee judge issued an injunction preventing state officials from halting the platform’s sports products.
To amplify its influence, Kalshi helped launch the Coalition for Prediction Markets (CPM) in 2025 alongside companies such as Coinbase, Robinhood, and Crypto.com. The CPM appointed former Representatives Sean Patrick Maloney as chairman and Patrick McHenry as senior advisor in early January 2026, consolidating bipartisan political expertise around a push for federal oversight and consistent standards.
