Kalshi’s Random Bonus of Up to $2,000 Outlasts CFTC Warning on Chance-Based Rewards

CFTC staff told prediction markets in August that rewards should not depend on chance. In October, Kalshi bonus codes promising a random payout of up to $2,000 were still running, while Kalshi sponsored CBS News’ midterm market data and CBS Sports ran Kalshi promo codes through affiliate links.

Kalshi bonus codes that pay new customers a random amount of up to $2,000 were still being promoted this month, about eight weeks after CFTC staff warned prediction markets against chance-based rewards.

The promotions also put CBS on both sides of Kalshi. Kalshi sponsors the prediction market data in CBS News’ midterm election coverage, while CBS Sports publishes Kalshi promo code articles that may earn it commissions on sign-ups.

CFTC Staff Warned Against Random Rewards in August

On Aug. 12, the CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight issued a staff advisory on incentive programs for prediction markets.

The advisory said sweepstakes-like or randomized rewards based “in whole or in part, on pure chance” likely run afoul of a core principle that exchanges must follow.

Rewards, it said, should not use “spin-the-wheel promotions” or other offers in which the amount of a reward “is determined through randomized or game-like features.”

Staff also warned against payouts structured to “guarantee profits, offset losses.” The letter set a Sept. 14 deadline for exchanges to submit amendments to existing programs.

The advisory represents staff views, not a Commission rule, the letter states. The same week, the New York City Council opened a probe into prediction market advertising by Kalshi, Polymarket, Coinbase and Gemini Titan.

The CFTC was reviewing prediction market promotional programs by late September. As of Oct. 7, the agency’s press release page showed no announcement on incentive programs since Aug. 12. The CFTC did not respond to a request for comment before publication.

Kalshi Bonus Codes Still Pay Random Amounts

At least four Kalshi codes promoted in early October offered a randomized sign-up bonus: AMNY, GOAL2000, MILE and RAD2000.

New users who deposit $10 and trade $25 receive “a random bonus with tiers of $10, $25, $50, $100 or $2,000,” according to the terms of amNewYork’s AMNY code. Goal.com described its GOAL2000 code as a random trading bonus ranging up to $2,000.

Codes on Denver Stiffs and Crossing Broad carried the same structure: the bonus amount is randomized and the $2,000 maximum is not guaranteed.

None of the four promotions Gambling Insider reviewed published the odds of landing each tier.

Kalshi has published odds for an earlier version. An undated Kalshi terms document on its public file server sets out a random promo code bonus of up to $500: 70% of claimants receive $15 and 0.35% receive $500.

CFTC records show Kalshi filed a ‘Deposit and Trading Reward Incentive Program’ on Sept. 15, one day after the deadline set out in the advisory, and another filing under the same name appears on Sept. 25. The public database does not, by itself, establish whether those filings covered the random $2,000 bonuses reviewed by Gambling Insider. Kalshi did not respond before publication to questions about the filings or the odds of each bonus tier.

A CBS Sports Kalshi article for Wednesday’s games describes its own $55 offer as “a guaranteed amount, not variable like other offers.”

Bonus Values Depend on the Code

The size of a Kalshi bonus depends on which affiliate a new user signs up through. For example:

• RotoGrinders’ GRINDERS code offered $25 in credit after $25 in trades.
• CBS Sports’ CBSSPORTS55 code offered $55 in credit after $25 in trades.
• The random codes offered between $10 and $2,000.

For the fixed CBS Sports and RotoGrinders codes, the credit expires after seven days and must be traded before any profit can be withdrawn.

Promotions are drawing scrutiny across the industry. DraftKings faces a proposed class action alleging it used AI to target promotions at customers likely to lose.

Kalshi Ends One Rewards Program While Sign-Up Bonuses Continue

Kalshi has pulled back one incentive since the advisory. On Sept. 28, it filed with the CFTC to terminate its Volume Incentive Program no earlier than Oct. 13, almost a year before its scheduled end. In January, Kalshi also launched Kalshi Platinum, a VIP program for high-volume traders.

The Volume Incentive Program paid traders a share of a reward pool in proportion to their trading volume. Kalshi filed the termination after The Wall Street Journal reported that the CFTC was reviewing a $5 billion run of near-identical trades on its platform. The exchange has disputed separate allegations that it inflated its crypto trading volume.

The filing does not mention sign-up bonuses, and the random codes were still being promoted more than a week later.

CBS News Names Kalshi Its Prediction Market Sponsor

On Sept. 30, CBS News integrated Kalshi market data into its midterm election coverage.

A CBS News segment presented by Anthony Salvanto, CBS News’ executive director of elections and surveys, states that CBS News is using Kalshi as its prediction market sponsor. A Sept. 30 CBS Mornings post on X said the network’s midterm coverage will include “integrated data from Kalshi, our prediction market sponsor.”

In the segment, Salvanto told viewers that polls “aren’t predictions of what’ll happen in November.” He described prediction market trading as one indicator “of where people think all of this is headed,” adding: “To help you understand what’s driving these markets, we’re gonna bring you data and insights from Kalshi for this cycle.”

He said the CBS News poll and other measures are “done independently of all the market data,” then set out the arrangement:

Kalshi is our prediction market sponsor, and we’re gonna integrate their market data … all to bring you these added insights and a wider view of what Americans and the markets are thinking.”

On-screen text during the segment reads “Market Data sponsored by Kalshi.” A CBS News spokesperson pointed to that text and Salvanto’s on-air remarks as the network’s disclosure of the sponsorship.

The Kalshi market data will focus only on the midterm elections, as part of CBS News’ polling and political coverage, and the sponsorship runs through Election Day on Nov. 3, according to someone familiar with the CBS News-Kalshi sponsorship.

CBS News did not disclose the financial terms of the sponsorship or say whether Kalshi pays for it.

CBS Sports Runs Kalshi Promo Codes Through Affiliate Links

On the other side of the same company, Gambling Insider found at least 10 CBS Sports articles built around the CBSSPORTS55 code, four of them published between Oct. 3 and Oct. 6. Many are pegged to NFL and college football games.

The pages say the offer is open to users 18 and older. CNN estimated that Kalshi customers aged 18 to 21 had traded $5.4 billion on the platform this year at that point.

The CBS Sports Kalshi pages Gambling Insider reviewed carry the same notice: “If you click a link and sign up, make a deposit, place a wager, or make a trade, we may earn a commission.” A CBS Sports guide to prediction market legality also promotes a $25 Polymarket bonus under the code CBSSPORTS.

Neither of the two CBS Sports Kalshi pages Gambling Insider checked for a disclosure mentioned CBS News’ sponsorship deal with Kalshi.

The pages also disagree on where the offer applies. One says Kalshi is available in all 50 states, with sports contracts unavailable in Nevada. Another lists 48 states plus Washington, D.C., excluding Arizona, Minnesota, Nevada and Washington. A third, aimed at Texas readers, says there are “no restrictions for Kalshi users in Texas.”

CBS Sports did not respond before publication to questions about why its Kalshi pages do not mention the CBS News sponsorship, or which states the CBSSPORTS55 offer covers.

Skydance Now Owns Two Kalshi News Partners

CBS and CNN came under the same corporate parent on Oct. 6, when Paramount completed its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery and the combined company became Skydance. Forbes reported that CNN and CBS News will remain separate entities under an independent editorial board.

CNN named Kalshi its official prediction market partner in December 2025. Skydance now owns two newsrooms that use Kalshi data and a sports site whose Kalshi pages say it may earn commissions on sign-ups.

Lawmakers have already questioned such deals. In May, five Democrats warned that prediction market partnerships with news outlets normalize gambling among younger Americans, naming CNN and CNBC. Prediction markets have also been securing sponsorship deals with leagues and teams, pushing sportsbooks to defend their turf.

The NFL, meanwhile, has banned prediction market advertising during its games. The league’s stated ban covers game broadcasts, stadium signage, club sponsorships and player endorsements. It does not mention affiliate articles that tie Kalshi codes to NFL matchups.

Skydance did not respond to a request for comment before publication.

Gambling Insider will update this story if Kalshi, the CFTC, CBS Sports or Skydance respond.

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