How Kalshi works: from a contract price to settlement

What you are buying

In a standard $1 binary example, a Yes contract pays $1 if its defined outcome resolves Yes and $0 if it resolves No. The contract’s own rules define the event and its resolution source; the market title alone is insufficient. You can sell a position before resolution if an executable counterparty exists, with proceeds determined by the exit price.

The price is commonly translated into implied probability: a 60¢ entry represents 60% of the $1 payoff before fees. It is not an independently established 60% chance. Liquidity, spread, costs and participants’ beliefs affect the market.

The 10-contract example, including fees

Ten contracts at 60¢ cost $6 before fees. A Yes settlement pays $10 gross and gives $4 profit before fees. A No settlement pays zero and loses $6 before fees. Under the reviewed general taker formula, the raw entry charge for ten contracts is $0.168 before the schedule’s collection/rounding treatment.

Kalshi’s rounding documentation distinguishes direct-member balances aligned to $0.0001 from non-direct/FCM balances aligned to $0.01. The trade-model fee is rounded up to six decimal places, then a balance-alignment adjustment and per-order accumulator/rebate apply. For a single 10-contract buy at 60¢ with a $0.168 model fee, those grids can produce a $0.168 direct-member charge or $0.17 cent-aligned charge. Use the actual quoted fee for your account.

A resting order and an immediate fill differ

The reviewed schedule charges immediately matched orders under the taker formula. Resting orders generally have no maker charge unless the series is listed in the maker-fee schedule; an applicable maker charge arises only on execution, not cancellation. If you enter and later exit, there can be a fee at both executions.

A limit price constrains your order; it does not guarantee a fill. If only part fills, your exposure is the executed quantity, and execution costs need to be reconciled to those fills.

Funding and settlement costs

The July 7, 2026 fee PDF states no Kalshi ACH deposit/withdrawal fee and no settlement or membership fee. It lists card deposits at a maximum 2%, potential third-party crypto-processing charges, and method-specific alternative payment charges. A bank can levy its own wire cost.

Losing contracts can consume the stake and fees. A withdrawal hold or account review is an operational issue separate from whether an event has resolved. We have reviewed the schedule; we have not performed a deposit or withdrawal test.

From order to final cash

An order can remain open, fill partly, then stop trading before an outcome is determined. The market lifecycle separates closing from determination and settlement. A release date or final score alone does not override the market’s rules.

Bid, ask and last trade are different observations

Synthetic order book: the best bid is 48¢ for ten contracts; the best ask is 52¢ for five, then 54¢ for twenty. The midpoint is 50¢, but it is not an executable offer. A ten-contract marketable buy would consume five at 52¢ and five at 54¢, averaging 53¢ before fees, assuming no book changes. The last traded price can be older and need not equal any of these numbers.

Liquidity changes the executable price as size grows

Synthetic asks: five contracts at 52¢, twenty at 54¢ and thirty at 57¢. The best ask is 52¢, but a ten-contract buy would average 53¢ and a thirty-contract buy 54.1667¢ before fees, assuming every listed offer remains available. These are invented educational levels, not a current market or promised fill.

For thirty contracts, 5 × $0.52 + 20 × $0.54 + 5 × $0.57 = $16.25. If the last five disappear after the first 25 fill, only 25 are filled at $13.40 before fees; the remaining five have no known execution price. A limit order at 54¢ would not automatically take the 57¢ level.

The bid is an available buying price, ask an available selling price, midpoint an arithmetic reference and last trade a past observation. None alone tells you the cash needed for your whole order. Add the actual fee treatment for each fill and compare settlement definitions across products before interpreting a price difference.