The controversial company has unveiled its new head of crypto, influencer John Wang.<\/p>\n
Prediction market Kalshi revealed<\/a> its new head of crypto today, a trading and crypto influencer known as John Wang, who is tasked with \u201cbringing new crypto markets to life, growing Kalshi\u2019s builder ecosystem, and leading the push onchain,\u201d according to an article<\/a> Wang published on X.<\/p>\n Prediction markets have been a hot sector in crypto over the last few months, with Wang leading the push on social media and spending the last few weeks bullposting prediction markets. In a particularly viral tweet on Aug. 18, he said<\/a>, \u201cMark my words: prediction markets will be 10x bigger than memecoins.\u201d<\/p>\n Kalshi also recently expanded its sports betting markets through a new partnership with Robinhood<\/a>. The activation enables National Football League (NFL) and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) American football betting markets on Robinhood, facilitated by Kalshi.<\/p>\n Market leader Polymarket, on the other hand, announced a partnership with Elon Musk\u2019s X<\/a> in June, making the decentralized prediction market the official partner of X. <\/p>\n Polymarket has been the crypto-native favorite among prediction markets since activity on the platform exploded leading up to the 2024 presidential election. It\u2019s gearing up for an even bigger 2025, as Polymarket plots a return to the United States after acquiring a compliant platform through a $112 million deal<\/a> in July. <\/p>\n Part of the favoritism also lies in crypto-natives\u2019 general disdain for Kalshi and some of the company’s previous tactics.<\/p>\n Niko Kampouris, a social media specialist at Uniswap, called out Kalshi after the news broke today, saying,<\/a> \u201cSorry, but Kalshi lost all respect after their coordinated polymarket propaganda tour during the election cycle. They tried destroying something that was built by one of our own. Don\u2019t really care who they hire to help save face. I\u2019m team polymarket because I\u2019m team crypto.\u201d<\/p>\n Kampouris is referring to some of Kalshi\u2019s previous controversies, including an incident where the Kalshi team was accused of paying influencers to target Polymarket\u2019s CEO<\/a>, Shayne Coplan, with slanderous posts and misinformation after Coplan was raided<\/a> by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in November.<\/p>\n Even Wang acknowledged in his X article that \u201cAs a crypto-native, Kalshi wasn\u2019t the obvious choice for me at first.\u201d<\/p>\nControversial Past<\/h2>\n