Kalshi Refer-a-Friend Promo: How to Earn Up to $25 Per Referral in August 2026

To successfully claim your Kalshi referral bonus, there are a few key details you should know first. Below, we've put together a quick overview of the Kalshi refer-a-friend bonus so you can review the important terms before getting started.

Here's how to refer a friend to Kalshi and claim your trading bonus:

1. Claim Your Signup Bonus: If you haven't created an account yet and claimed the signup bonus, do so using the Kalshi promo code .
2. Find and Copy Your Link: Open the Kalshi app menu and tap Invite friends, then select the Predictions tab. On mobile, you can copy your unique referral link or share it via text, social media, etc. There's also a QR code that your friend can scan.
3. Send the Link to Friends: Your friend must sign up using that link and make a $25 trade within 7 days of opening their account.
4. Get Paid: Once the requirements are met, the referral credits usually post automatically to Menu → Activity. In some cases you'll need to claim them yourself at Menu → Invite friends.

The steps are quick on your end, but your friend's side could take longer. Mine had to verify his account, fund it, and then find markets to trade before anything counted.

That's worth flagging when you send the link — the 7-day clock starts when they open the account, not when they get around to trading, so a friend who signs up on a Friday and waits on a bank transfer can burn half the window before placing a single trade.

If your friend signs up for Kalshi using your invite link, your referral code should automatically populate for them on the registration form. Have them check it's actually there before they make a deposit.

Your code is the text at the end of your referral link. For example, if your link ends in .../referral=sample-code, the code is "sample-code". If it hasn't auto-filled, they can paste it in exactly as it appears on the "Enter your birthday" screen, behind a button marked Enter referral code.

To qualify as a Referee (the new user), you must:

• Be a US person and brand new to Kalshi, no previous Kalshi account, ever
• Pass Kalshi's identity verification (KYC) process
• Trade at least $25 on Kalshi's Predictions product within 7 days of opening your account
• Not have a suspended account or be under any open compliance investigation

 To qualify as a Referrer (the existing user), you must:

• Be a US person
• Be an existing Kalshi user in good standing, with no suspended account privileges and no open compliance investigation
• Have already transacted at least $25 on Kalshi's Predictions product

That last one trips people up. Your referral link exists from day one, but it won't pay anything until you've met the trading requirement yourself, and nothing in the app stops you sharing it before then.

Also, keep in mind that referral rewards are US-only, the program doesn't apply to international users. 

Anyone who doesn't meet these conditions isn't eligible, even if a Referee successfully signs up using the referral link.

Kalshi says it will award both the referrer and referee up to $25, making it a leading prediction market bonus.

The amount varies with each referral, and Kalshi admits that "most [referral amounts] land below the max [of $25]."

There's a lifetime cap on how much you can earn via referrals, check the app for details.

The "up to $25" bonus is variable and most people get the low end, though it depends which program your account is on. 

A few rules worth knowing before you sign up:

• Limit one offer per account, once you redeem a promo code, it's permanently used for you, even if you never end up qualifying for the rewards.
• You can use a promo code or a referral link at signup, but not both, only one will count.
• If a friend shared their referral link, that's the best option to sign up with, since it pays both of you.

To unlock the reward, you must actually trade $25 on the Predictions product, not just deposit money. You don't have to put it all on one market, the cleanest way to clear it is to spread $25 across a few of the deepest, tightest-spread contracts on Kalshi so every order fills instantly.

Here's a sample $25 game plan using markets that are live on Kalshi right now. Trade a few dollars here, a few dollars there:

• The daily MLB slate: Single-game baseball is Kalshi's most-traded sports market, with tight two-sided pricing up to first pitch, and there's a full slate of games most days of the week.
  • How to trade it: open the MLB section, pick a matchup, tap the team you like to buy Yes, and confirm. It fills in within a second.

• The 2027 NFL champion futures market: Next season's title is already one of the deepest futures on Kalshi, with $66+ million in volume logged and the Rams as the early favorite, so the contracts stay liquid until February 2027. 
  • How to trade it: open the Pro Football Championship market, pick the team you're backing, buy Yes, and confirm. 

Tips to hit $25 quickly and cleanly:

• Pick markets priced near the middle (roughly from 40¢ to 60¢) with visible depth on both sides, so your order fills immediately and you can exit near your entry if you just want to clear the requirement. This works best on head-to-head markets like a single MLB game; on wide futures fields, go by order-book depth instead.
• Do your $25 early in the 7-day window so any processing delay on the bonus doesn't push you past the deadline.
• Check the order book before you trade. Liquidity thins out fast on niche or newly listed markets, where wider spreads make it harder to get filled.
• Trade real markets you'd actually take a position in. Kalshi can deny, claw back, or debit a bonus if it suspects trades were manufactured purely to hit the $25 minimum (self-referrals, multiple or fake accounts, manipulated transaction activity, etc.).

You must trade your credit within 7 days after issuance. If you don't, it will expire.

If you're not sure how to use your bonus, you can refer to our guide on How Kalshi Works, and our Open Interest vs. Volume guide if you want help reading how active a market really is before you start trading.

If you’ve sent your referral link to a friend but don’t see the reward in your "Account Activity," don't panic.

Here are the most common reasons for a delay:

• The $25 Threshold: Your friend hasn't made their first $25 trade yet. This is the most common issue. Funding the account does nothing on its own, your friend must place a trade for something to happen.
• You haven't traded $25 yourself: Your link won't pay out until you've met the referrer requirement. Don't worry, it's OK to not know this, nothing in the app warns you about before you share the link.
• The Tracking Link: If your friend didn't use your specific link, or if they navigated away from the page during sign-up, the system may not have connected them to you.
• The code didn't attach: Your friend arrived through your link, but the code never populated on the birthday screen during signup. In that case, they need to copy the code at the end of the URL you sent, and enter it manually within 72 hours from account creation, before their first deposit.
• Processing Time: It isn't always instantaneous. It can take a few days for the credit to hit your account after the trade requirement is met.
• KYC Status: Both you and your friend must have a fully verified account. If their identity verification is still pending, the bonus will stay in limbo.
• It might be sitting there waiting for you: Most credits post straight to Menu → Activity, but some accounts need you to tap a claim step under Menu → Invite friends, so check both. If a referral shows as unlocked and the claim button won't budge, log in through the website rather than the app. Sounds odd, but it's worked for other people.

What to do: If a couple of days have passed since your friend traded their first $25 and you still don't see the credit, reach out to support@kalshi.com. Include your friend's name and the email they used to sign up so the support team can track it down.

In most cases, the credit will automatically populate in your account after your friend meets the trading requirements. There is no manual action required.

If you don't see your bonus at the Activity tab, you'll to claim it at Menu → Invite friends, or at kalshi.com/account/referrals on the web. Tap it, and done!

You can refer up to 40 people to Kalshi and earn rewards. Share your link with friends and family members, or post it on social media.

Make sure to mention that anyone who uses your link is eligible for a reward, not just you. That's usually what attracts people.

While you're free to share it with anyone, try to keep it to people you actually know. Kalshi can deny, claw back or debit a bonus for self-referrals, multiple or fake accounts, or manipulated trading activity.

Looking for other ways to earn rewards? Check out our guide on the bet365 refer-a-friend program.

If you're the one being referred to one of the best prediction market apps, it's super easy to claim the refer-a-friend bonus via the Kalshi referral link your friend sent you:

1. Tap the link they sent to go to Kalshi or download the app.
2. Follow the prompts to create an account and complete verification.
3. Make a $25 deposit and trade those $25 on Predictions within 7 days of opening your account.
4. Check Menu → Activity to ensure the $25 reward hits your account. You have 7 days to use it!

Note: If you clicked on your friend's referral link, their code should auto-fill. If it didn't auto-populate, you can copy the code at the end of the link they sent you and enter it manually. 

If your friend signed up for Kalshi without using a code and hasn't made their first deposit yet, you might be able to get credit for their signup.

Have them tap your referral link, which should take them to their account and populate it with the refer-a-friend offer. If it doesn't populate, they can add it manually from the waffle menu, under "Add referral code". The code is the text at the end of your link.

If your referral link doesn't work, your friend can always use code . But, keep in mind that this promo code only pays them, not you.

Users have 72 hours after account creation to apply a referral link/code, and only before their first deposit.

When you go to the refer-a-friend page in the Kalshi app, you'll notice two tabs: Predictions and Perpetuals. Most users will refer their friends to Kalshi Predictions.

You must be approved for Perpetuals before you can start referring your friends to this product.

Referral bonuses are a nice perk, but they shouldn't be the reason you start trading. To clear one you have to put $25 of real money into live event contracts, and those contracts can settle against you.

The $25 is genuinely at risk, and the credit you get back can't be withdrawn as cash.

A few things worth keeping in mind:

• Only trade what you can afford to lose. A bonus that's most likely worth $15 isn't a reason to stake money you need.
• Don't chase the referral cap. 40 referrals sounds like a lot of upside, but it means 40 friends putting $25 into markets. Share your link with people who were already interested, not people you have to talk into it.
• Watch for the deadline pressure. The 7-day trading window creates urgency by design. If you find yourself rushing into a market you don't understand to beat a clock, that's a reason to let the bonus go.
• Know when to step back. If trading starts feeling like a compulsion, that's worth taking seriously.

If you're worried about your own trading or someone else's, the National Council on Problem Gambling runs a free, confidential helpline at 1-800-522-4700 (1-800-MY-RESET), available 24/7 by call or text.