Kalshi launched three transparency features for its 2026 midterm election contracts on October 6: Brier scores, low-volume tags, and real-time activity feeds. The move followed platform data showing traders were more active in local races than national contests. The features arrive as election trading volume grows on the CFTC-regulated platform, with the midterms weeks away. Kalshi framed the rollout as a response to observed user behavior rather than regulatory pressure.

Election contracts are Kalshi's highest-profile product and its most legally contested. Transparency tools matter because mainstream viewers encountering prediction markets for the first time through the CBS deal need clear signals of market quality, not just prices. Low-volume tags and Brier scores give casual users a way to distinguish liquid, well-calibrated races from thin or noisy ones. That shapes whether first-time participants trust the format enough to return. For Kalshi, higher trust means deeper liquidity and stronger public standing ahead of any state enforcement actions. The timing is tight: the midterms begin in weeks, and any reputation hit from opaque or manipulated-looking markets would compound its existing legal exposure in Ohio, Tennessee, and New York.