Compare Kalshi and Pendle on TVL, fees, revenue and activity to understand how these projects stack up.
Kalshi is a CFTC-regulated event derivatives exchange where users trade binary yes/no contracts on real-world outcomes. Each contract settles at $1 if the event occurs and $0 otherwise, creating a direct, transparent market for probabilistic pricing across politics, economics, sports, weather and more. Founded in 2018 and designated as a U.S. Designated Contract Market, Kalshi operates under federal commodities law rather than state gambling rules, enabling legal trading nationwide. The platform combines traditional exchange infrastructure with compliance tooling including KYC/AML screening, IC360 monitoring for sports-related markets, and real-time surveillance for insider or anomalous activity. Backed by Sequoia, YC, and industry figures such as Charles Schwab and Henry Kravis, Kalshi pioneered regulated event contracts and in 2024 became the first U.S. exchange in over a century to legally list election markets.
Pendle splits yield‑bearing tokens into Principal (PT) and Yield (YT) tokens, enabling users to lock in fixed rates or speculate on future yield. A permissionless AMM with a custom logit bonding curve lets YT premiums track forward‑looking yield expectations. Pendle TVL grew 10× in 2024 on the back of LST and RWA integrations, and PENDLE governance now controls a large veToken bribe market.