Major Wall Street brokers plan to access prediction markets, with Clear Street and Marex taking the lead

According to a report by Bloomberg on Wednesday, major U.S. brokers (Prime Brokers) are working to provide hedge fund clients access to the prediction market platform Kalshi. Clear Street, valued at over $12 billion, is expected to complete its first Kalshi trade settlement by the end of March; subsequently, Marex Group, valued at around $2.6 billion, also plans to follow suit in the coming months.

Marex's Global Clearing Head Thomas Texier stated that there is strong demand from large financial institutions for prediction markets, as they not only seek to gain returns from such markets but also aim to use them as tools to hedge their own positions. Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour pointed out that prediction markets are becoming a core pillar of the financial ecosystem, with billions of dollars flowing weekly. Although institutional adoption is accelerating, Clear Street CEO Ed Tilly emphasized that due to ongoing controversies regarding the classification of sports markets and insider trading risks by regulatory agencies in various U.S. states, the company will proceed with caution.