Coinbase Tests a New On-Chain Betting Frontier With Kalshi Infrastructure

Coinbase is preparing to enter the fast-rising prediction markets sector, according to new findings from tech researcher Jane Manchun Wong, who uncovered an unreleased Coinbase-branded prediction platform hidden in the company’s public source code.

Wong, best known for surfacing in-development features across Meta and X, posted screenshots showing what appears to be a fully designed interface for markets tied to politics, economics, science and major global events.

The images indicate that the product would be offered through Coinbase Financial Markets, the exchange’s licensed derivatives arm, and would rely on Kalshi — one of the United States’ only CFTC-regulated prediction market operators — to provide the underlying event contracts. A Coinbase logo sits at the top of the interface, next to a built-out FAQ and a user guide explaining how the markets work and how payouts are settled in USDC or U.S. dollars.

The discovery lines up with Coinbase’s stated ambition to build an “everything exchange,” a strategy the company outlined earlier this year when it confirmed plans to incorporate prediction markets into its broader retail and institutional product suite.

Partnership With Kalshi Suggests a Regulated, USDC-Powered Market Design

Coinbase and Kalshi formalized their partnership on Nov. 13, with Coinbase acting as custodian for Kalshi’s USDC-backed event contracts. Wong’s screenshots suggest the integration may go far deeper: Coinbase could become the front-end access point while Kalshi handles the regulated market mechanics in the background.

If launched, the platform would place Coinbase directly inside one of crypto’s fastest-growing verticals. Prediction markets — long considered a niche category — have surged into mainstream attention in 2024 and 2025, with platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi posting record volumes around U.S. elections, economic data releases and headline-driven macro events.

Coinbase appears to be positioning itself early in this emerging competition. Its interface displays categories spanning economics, sports, politics, science, and technology, and also hints that markets will be refreshed frequently — a sign that Coinbase intends to attract recurring flow rather than one-off curiosity trades.

Both Coinbase and Kalshi declined to comment on the findings, maintaining silence as speculation builds around the exchange’s next major product launch.

Coinbase isn’t the only platform racing to capitalize on the prediction-market boom. Crypto.com recently launched its own prediction interface and plans to integrate it with Trump Media, aiming at a politically energized audience ahead of the election cycle.

Gemini, meanwhile, is building prediction markets into its planned “super app” and has already filed with the CFTC to become a designated contract market — a move designed to place it in direct competition with Kalshi’s regulatory footprint.

Across the industry, exchanges see prediction markets as a gateway to expanding user engagement and new revenue streams at a time when trading volumes and fees remain highly cyclical. The combination of regulatory clarity, USDC settlement rails and election-year volatility has turned the sector into one of the most sought-after product categories in crypto exchange strategy.

What This Signals for Coinbase’s Web3 Expansion

If Coinbase moves forward, the company would be staking a position in a market with clear momentum, regulatory alignment and cultural visibility — a combination that has been rare in crypto’s post-2022 landscape. The Kalshi-powered design also suggests Coinbase is betting on a hybrid model: regulated event markets delivered through a crypto-native interface, settled in stablecoins, and connected to familiar Web3 payment rails.

In a year where exchanges are fighting to differentiate themselves, Coinbase’s prediction markets play could mark the next phase of its “everything exchange” strategy — one that blends regulation, stablecoin adoption and financial gamification into a single on-chain experience.