Kalshi, a New York-based regulated prediction market platform, has raised US$185 million in a funding round that values the company at US$2 billion.

As reported by Reuters, the round was led by crypto-focused investment firm Paradigm, with additional backing from Sequoia, Multicoin, Neo, Bond Capital, and Citadel Securities chief executive Peng Zhao.

Founded in 2018 by Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, who met while studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Kalshi enables users to trade on the outcome of real-world events, ranging from politics and the economy to sports and entertainment.

The popularity of these event contracts has surged since the US presidential election last year.

Event contracts have become a topic of heated debate in financial markets.

Supporters say they offer a more accurate means of forecasting outcomes than traditional polls, since “they rely on traders with money at stake.”

Critics, however, argue that the products act as a “backdoor to gambling,” a claim that Kalshi and its peers firmly reject.

Kalshi won a significant legal battle last year against the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, securing approval to list contracts related to the US presidential race.

The ruling has spurred increased interest in the sector, with Robinhood launching its own prediction markets hub in March.

Featured image credit: Kalshi