Prediction market platform Kalshi has hired digital asset influencer John Wang as its new head of crypto, the company said on Monday, as it looks to attract more crypto-native users and expand its product roadmap.
Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour announced the hire in a notice, calling the decision “betting on slope.” Mansour praised Wang’s approach, saying: “The more time I spent with John, the deeper my conviction grew. I can’t wait for us to tackle the roadmap we are putting together.”
Wang, 23, left the University of Pennsylvania in 2024 “to pursue crypto,” according to his LinkedIn profile. He previously worked as a fellow at Paradigm, interned at Immutable, and co-founded blockchain security startup Armor Labs in 2022.
The appointment comes as Kalshi faces regulatory attention in Washington. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which oversees the platform, filed an enforcement action against the company in September 2024 under the Biden administration. In May 2025, under President Donald Trump, the CFTC filed a motion to drop the case.
The platform’s listing of political event contracts — including bets tied to the 2024 U.S. presidential election — has been a flashpoint. In October, a federal court cleared Kalshi to offer such wagers one month before the election, despite a CFTC injunction request.
Wang has argued that prediction markets can engage people in politics and culture by turning belief into tradable outcomes. “As an Australian, I can’t vote in the U.S. elections. But prediction markets changed the way I experienced them. Not through punditry or biased takes, but through markets that transform belief into something tangible,” he said.
Founded in 2021, Kalshi saw a surge in activity around the 2024 election cycle. In April, the platform added Bitcoin (BTC) deposits to appeal to crypto-native traders. Two months later, it closed a $185 million funding round, valuing the company at about $2 billion.
