Polymarket Tests U.S. Parlays as Kalshi Generates $25 Million in Fees

Polymarket US has begun testing multi-leg sports contracts, or parlays, through an API-only beta, signaling a push into one of the most lucrative areas of prediction-market trading.

The first trade was processed on Aug. 5, about 11 weeks after the product was certified with federal regulators, and the platform has since recorded 16,173 trades representing $7.4 million in total volume and roughly $928,000 in taker-side stakes. The contracts can combine between two and 10 outcomes, with every selected leg required to succeed for the contract to pay out $1. Polymarket’s move puts it into more direct competition with Kalshi, whose parlay business has expanded rapidly: reported volume climbed from $4.77 billion in May to $13.78 billion in July. While InGame estimates Kalshi generated approximately $25 million in parlay taker fees during just the first 16 days of August.

The development highlights how sports contracts are becoming a major growth and monetization engine for U.S. prediction markets, particularly as platforms experiment with products that increasingly resemble traditional sportsbook parlays. At the same time, regulatory scrutiny is intensifying: New York City lawmakers recently opened an investigation into Polymarket, Kalshi and other prediction platforms over alleged deceptive marketing and concerns about younger users. The combination of rapidly rising trading volumes, substantial fee revenue and growing regulatory attention suggests prediction markets are moving quickly from a niche financial product toward a serious competitor to the conventional online

Clever Robot News Desk 19^th July 2026