ION has entered a partnership with Coinbase to support event contract clearing for prediction market Kalshi, via ION’s XTP platform, The TRADE can reveal.
Samuel Shorthouse
Through the integration, ION’s XTP will allow Coinbase to support the execution and processing of event contracts in real-time, while also ensuring the existing operational processes receive minimal impact.
The move is also set to support real-time contract design capability, as well as the ability to onboard thousands of accounts daily and enable fully automated 24/7 processing.
In recent months, prediction markets have seen a significant uptick in institutional interest, shifting what was once a largely retail-driven industry into the institutional sector.
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For Kalshi, this integration will support the firm as it looks to address this growing demand and become an increasingly key player in mainstream financial market infrastructure.
Speaking to The TRADE, Eduardo Massud, broker manager at Kalshi, explains: “At Kalshi, we’re building a true ecosystem for players to tap into and plug into our exchange, and having the familiar pipelines that ION has already built removes the friction of connecting.
“Most players already super excited to start offering our event contracts onto their platform. So this really helps remove the friction of connecting to the exchange and having to build the entire backend of the connectivity.”
ION expanded its XTP platform to include event contracts in April 2026, following increasing demand for prediction markets trading from institutional investors.
The enhanced offering allows futures commissions merchants (FCMs) to process event contracts on a 24/7 basis, through an automated solution that aims to streamline contract creation, native event resolution, and settlement for event-based contracts.
Similarly, the collaboration builds on ION and Coinbase’s initial partnership in December 2025 to support Kalshi’s rollout of its event contracts, which saw the three firms working together to expedite analysis, development and launch.
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Samuel Shorthouse, head of client engagement, cleared derivatives at ION explained the opportunities presented to the institutional community through the integration.
He adds: “The benefit of this connectivity and development with Kalshi means that the majority of non-bank FCMs that have a long-standing presence within traditional capital markets have the ability to connect Kalshi very seamlessly into their existing platform, whereby they have to take a small deployment to configure the gateway to then get live very quickly.
“That ability to respond to the demands and changes of the market when they need to and deploy very quickly will also help with institutional adoption.”
The partnership is also set to support future product launches, such as Kalshi’s recently announced perpetuals offering, the firms confirmed.