Lighter vs Kalshi
Lighter traded 2.0× Kalshi's 24-hour volume ($2.69B vs $1.34B) and holds 5.8× its open interest.
Head to head
the arrow points to the better figure| Lighter | Kalshi | |
|---|---|---|
| Trading | ||
| $1.18 | ◀BTC trade, $10k | $12.26 |
| $277 | ◀BTC trade, $1M | $1,717 |
| $14.8M | ◀BTC book depth | $5.9M |
| 0.000%/0.000% | ◀Taker / maker | 0.040%/0.020% |
| 50x | ◀Max leverage | 15x |
| Size | ||
| $2.69B | ◀Volume 24h | $1.34B |
| $2.15B | ◀Volume, 7-day average | $1.06B |
| $512.3M | ◀Open interest | $88.0M |
| $579.7M | TVL | — |
| Markets | ||
| 201 | ◀Markets | 71 |
| 96 | ◀Stocks & RWA | 67 |
| 1h | Funding paid every | 8h or 24h |
| +0.0096% | BTC funding /8h | +0.0297% |
| +0.682% | BTC longs paid, 30d | +1.464% |
| Access | ||
| No ID | ◀KYC | Required |
| $LIT | Token | none yet |
| Season 3 | Airdrop | Not active |
Cost to trade BTC
| Size | Lighter | Kalshi |
|---|---|---|
| $1k | $0.101.0 bp | $0.878.7 bp |
| $10k | $1.181.2 bp | $12.2612.3 bp |
| $100k | $15.611.6 bp | $14314.3 bp |
| $1M | $2772.8 bp | $1,71717.2 bp |
| $5M | $4,3438.7 bp | $17,48835.0 bp |
BTC funding per day
pair pageVolume by asset class
last 90 daysOn both: 44
funding /8h · Net 7d at $10k| Asset | Lighter | Kalshi | Spread | Net 7d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BTC | +0.0096% | +0.0297% | +0.0201% | −$15 |
| ETH | +0.0096% | +0.0171% | +0.0075% | −$24 |
| SOL | +0.0096% | 0.0000% | +0.0096% | +$13 |
| HYPE | +0.0096% | 0.0000% | +0.0096% | −$32 |
| XRP | +0.0096% | +0.0336% | +0.0240% | +$17 |
| ZEC | +0.0216% | −0.0236% | +0.0364% | +$1 |
| NEAR | +0.0056% | +0.0175% | +0.0175% | −$64 |
| BCH | +0.0056% | 0.0000% | 0.0000% | −$61 |
| BNB | +0.0096% | +0.0398% | +0.0302% | −$10 |
| SUI | +0.0056% | 0.0000% | 0.0000% | −$35 |
| DOGE | +0.0096% | 0.0000% | +0.0096% | −$20 |
| LINK | +0.0096% | +0.0225% | +0.0129% | +$142 |
| LTC | +0.0096% | −0.0220% | +0.0316% | −$15 |
| WLD | −0.0320% | −0.0110% | +0.0298% | −$48 |
| ADA | +0.0096% | 0.0000% | +0.0080% | −$4 |
| UNI | +0.0096% | 0.0000% | +0.0096% | −$142 |
| AAVE | +0.0096% | 0.0000% | +0.0096% | −$44 |
| VVV | +0.0072% | 0.0000% | +0.0064% | −$2 |
| SHIB | +0.0096% | −0.0143% | +0.0239% | −$6 |
Only on Lighter: 167
LIT · SKHYNIX · ZRO · NAS100 · XMR · CL · CRCL · ANTHROPIC · PUMP · SOXL · EUR · ENA · NATGAS · BZ · MSTR · SAMSUNG · PAXG · OPENAI · XPL · SP500 · GRAM · SKHY · USDKRW · UNITREE · STRC · WLFI · AERO · AVAX · DRAM · USDJPY · COIN · GRASS · BMNR · HOOD · LDO · ASTER · USELESS · TAO · NBIS · ARB · LITE · ETHFI · USDCHF · SKY · ONDO · MON · PONS · US10Y · CRV · MRVL · POL · JUP · EIGEN · CC · TRX · STABLECOINX · PEPE · VIRTUAL · MORPHO · CASHCAT · and 107 more
Questions
Is Lighter or Kalshi cheaper to trade?
Opening and closing $10,000 of BTC with market orders costs $1.18 on Lighter and $12.26 on Kalshi right now, taker fee and order-book slippage together, so Lighter is cheaper. Taker fees: 0% and 0.04%. Lighter: 0 / 0 is the default Standard account, whose taker orders wait 300 ms; a Premium account (140 ms) pays 0.4 bp maker, 2.8 bp taker.
Which has more markets, Lighter or Kalshi?
Lighter lists 201 active markets and Kalshi 71; 44 assets trade on both, 25 of them stocks, commodities or other real-world assets.
Does Lighter or Kalshi require KYC?
Lighter: No ID (the card deposit on-ramp is optional); not for the US, Canada, the UK, China, Russia, Ukraine or sanctioned countries. Kalshi: A US-regulated exchange: full KYC (ID, address, SSN when asked) before any trade.
Can you arbitrage funding between Lighter and Kalshi?
Yes: 6 of the assets on both paid more in funding over the last 7 days than a $10k round trip on both costs. The best was LINK, long on Lighter and short on Kalshi, with $142 left after costs.
Which is bigger, Lighter or Kalshi?
24-hour volume: Lighter $2.69B, Kalshi $1.34B. Open interest as each reports it: $512.3M and $88.0M. TVL: $579.7M and none published.