Solana News Today: Kalshi's Solana Tokenization Gambit: Challenging Polymarket in the On-Chain Liquidity Race

Kalshi Inc. has taken a significant step into the crypto-native market by tokenizing thousands of its prediction contracts on the Solana blockchain, deepening its rivalry with Polymarket and signaling a strategic shift to capture on-chain liquidity. The move, announced via a partnership with decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols DFlow and Jupiter, enables users to trade tokenized versions of Kalshi's event contracts directly on Solana, aligning the platform with Polymarket's on-chain model according to Seeking Alpha. This development follows a surge in prediction-market activity, with combined trading volume hitting nearly $28 billion through October 2025, including a record $2.3 billion weekly high in early October.

Tokenization allows Kalshi to convert its traditionally off-chain bets-spanning political outcomes, macroeconomic data, and sports events-into blockchain-based assets, offering users anonymity and programmable liquidity according to CoinDesk. The firm's head of crypto, John Wang, emphasized that accessing Solana's $3 trillion digital asset market would provide "billions of dollars of liquidity," enabling third-party developers to build applications on top of Kalshi's global liquidity pool through its new "Kalshi Builder Codes" according to CNBC. This innovation mirrors Polymarket's approach, which gained traction after the CFTC allowed reentry in late 2024.

Kalshi's foray into Solana is part of a broader effort to scale its offerings. The platform now operates approximately 3,500 markets and recently closed a $1 billion funding round at a $11 billion post-money valuation. By leveraging Solana's high-speed network, Kalshi aims to attract crypto-native traders who have historically favored Polymarket's on-chain structure. The company previously partnered with Solana-based protocols in September 2024, launching a grant program to incentivize developers and traders.

The competition between Kalshi and Polymarket has intensified as both platforms secure distribution deals with major partners like Google Finance and the National Hockey League. Meanwhile, Kalshi faces regulatory scrutiny, with a federal judge lifting an injunction that barred regulators from taking action against the firm. Despite this, the company continues to expand its ecosystem, with plans to support Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) chains and integrate additional DeFi tools according to Kalshi news.

As prediction markets evolve, Kalshi's tokenization strategy positions it to capitalize on the growing demand for decentralized, programmable financial instruments. However, success will depend on sustaining liquidity and differentiating itself in a rapidly consolidating sector.