Solana News Today: Solana Expands Beyond Memecoins with Regulated Prediction Market Hub

Kalshi, the first U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-regulated prediction market platform, has launched the KalshiEco Hub in partnership with Solana and Coinbase's Base network to advance blockchain-based prediction market innovation BraveNewCoin^[1]. This initiative aims to attract developers, traders, and content creators through grants, technical support, and marketing assistance, leveraging Solana's high-speed transaction capabilities (processing up to 65,000 transactions per second) and Base's layer-2 scaling technology BraveNewCoin^[1]. The hub also introduces native support for Solana (SOL) deposits, allowing users to fund accounts directly from wallets with limits up to $500,000, expanding on existing crypto integrations for Bitcoin, USDC, and Worldcoin BraveNewCoin^[1].

Kalshi's strategic alignment with Solana seeks to diversify the blockchain's use cases beyond decentralized exchanges (DEX) and memecoins, which accounted for 65% of Solana's trading volume in May 2025. The integration enables SOL holders to participate in prediction markets without converting to stablecoins, potentially boosting on-chain demand and liquidity BraveNewCoin^[1]. This move aligns with growing institutional adoption of Solana, including $1.4 billion in institutional capital inflows in Q2 2025 and a $8.6 billion total value locked in decentralized finance (DeFi) BraveNewCoin^[1].

The platform's regulatory compliance across all 50 U.S. states provides a competitive edge amid scrutiny of unregulated prediction markets. Kalshi reported $875 million in trading volume in the month preceding the hub's launch, narrowing the gap with rival Polymarket, which recorded $1 billion in the same period BraveNewCoin^[1]. Kalshi's growth trajectory has been significant, with monthly trading volumes rising from $13 million in early 2025 to $26 million in October 2024 and revenue surging 1,220% in 2024 BraveNewCoin^[1]. The company recently secured $185 million in Series C funding at a $2 billion valuation, with reports indicating potential additional capital at a $5 billion valuation BraveNewCoin^[1].

Kalshi's ecosystem expansion includes partnerships with entities like Kalshinomics (a market analytics dashboard) and Verso (professional trading tools), as well as collaborations with Robinhood for sports prediction markets and World App for Worldcoin integration BraveNewCoin^[1]. The initiative also highlights Solana's role in expanding institutional adoption, supported by the launch of the first U.S. Solana staking ETF and corporate treasury holdings totaling 3.44 million SOL ($970 million) BraveNewCoin^[1].

Prediction markets have demonstrated accuracy in forecasting outcomes, such as a 91% probability of Bitcoin reaching $100,000 in late 2024 BraveNewCoin^[1]. The KalshiEco Hub positions the platform at the intersection of regulated finance and blockchain innovation, potentially setting new standards for regulatory-compliant decentralized finance (DeFi) integration BraveNewCoin^[1].