Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. has introduced institutional trading for prediction markets, providing institutional clients with block trading access in event contracts on Kalshi, the top U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated exchange.
The investment bank will serve as an introducing broker, arranging and facilitating institutional-sized block trades that enable clients to negotiate event contracts at a single price through Kalshi’s block trading framework, outside the central order book.
Cantor is collaborating with Susquehanna Predictions, a division of Susquehanna International Group, to offer institutional-scale pricing and liquidity for its prediction-market service.
The launch positions Cantor among the early full-service investment banks providing institutional clients with block trading access in event contracts on a CFTC-regulated exchange.
Cantor has applied its institutional trading model used in equities and fixed income to prediction markets, managed through its Global Markets division.
The bank will initially facilitate block trades on Kalshi, with plans to include other platforms.
“For over eighty years, Cantor has been establishing institutional access to new markets, and prediction markets are the next frontier,” said Pascal Bandelier, co-CEO and Global Head of Equities at Cantor. “Prediction markets are expanding rapidly, but institutional participation has not kept up because investors lacked the ability to transact at scale on a regulated exchange.”
“The liquidity is there. With the introduction of block trading, institutional investors can now access block trading in event contracts through a trusted institutional intermediary.”
This move coincides with the expansion of prediction markets beyond retail trading, with financial institutions increasingly exploring event contracts for hedging and risk management.
Max Crowley, Vice President of Business Development at Kalshi, mentioned that Cantor’s institutional relationships and experience in equities and fixed income markets could enhance the use of event contracts.
Susquehanna Predictions, a branch of Susquehanna International Group, will provide liquidity for the service. The company claimed to be the first quantitative trading firm to establish a dedicated prediction markets business.
“We foresee significant growth potential in institutional risk transfer for prediction markets,” said Joe Grubb, Head of Business Development at Susquehanna Predictions.
“We have the capability to price and execute customized contracts for institutional clients seeking to hedge both general market and specific industry risks currently unmet by traditional insurance markets,” Grubb added. “Our ability to do this quickly and at scale offers a valuable solution to this untapped market demand.”