Focus Areas

Editorial Director
Valerie Cross, Ph.D., is a prediction markets reporter and editor with over seven years covering the regulated gaming and betting industry. She previously served as Editor-in-Chief at Catena Media North America and now directs content at DeFi Rate.
Data Analysis
Valerie compiles DeFi Rate's weekly Kalshi volume reports, breaking down trading activity by category, surfacing trending markets, and tracking how volume shifts week over week. Each report pairs raw data with context on what's driving the numbers — from regulatory catalysts to viral moments.
Legislation
She spent five years as Editor-in-Chief at Catena Media, where she tracked monthly revenue, handle, and market share across state-regulated sports betting and iGaming markets like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New Jersey. She brings that same data-driven approach to DeFi Rate's news coverage.

Background

Valerie Cross is a reporter, editor and prediction markets analyst with more than a decade of experience covering legal gaming, regulated betting, and emerging wagering-adjacent markets. Before joining DeFi Rate in 2026, she reported on the emerging prediction markets landscape, with a focus on industry news, regulation, and real-world use cases. Previously, Valerie served as Editorial & Content Director at Prediction News and as Editor-in-Chief at Catena Media, where she led large-scale content and newsroom operations across regulated gaming news verticals. She holds a BA from Furman University and MA and PhD degrees from Indiana University.

Valerie’s writing has appeared across leading gaming and prediction markets publications, with a focus on explanatory journalism and industry analysis. She has held senior editorial leadership roles at multiple industry publications. Her work focuses on clear, accurate reporting at the intersection of markets, regulation, and consumer impact.

When she’s not reporting or editing, Valerie can usually be found traveling, staying active, attending sporting events, and going down rabbit holes on finance, investing, and data-driven betting and trading tools. On occasion, she also moonlights at mid-stakes poker tournaments — purely for research purposes, of course.

Experience

Editorial & Content Director
Prediction News
1 year
Editor-in-Chief
Catena Media
4 years
Journalist
Catena Media
2 years

Recent Articles

Prediction Market Reports
Kalshi Posts Record $3.9B Volume Week, Extends Lead Over Polymarket as Parlays Surge
Weekly notional volume bounced back sharply after last week’s post-Masters pullback, with the two leading prediction markets combining for $5.9B in weekly notional volume for the week of April 20, according to DeFi Rate’s prediction markets volume tracker. Kalshi posted $3.91B, up 27.8% week over week from $3.06B, while Polymarket reached $1.96B, up ~4% WoW […]
April 27, 2026
Regulation & Policy
US Army Soldier Arrested for Insider Trading on Maduro Raid He Helped Plan
The suspected inside trader who netted more than $400K on well-timed trades related to the capture of former Venezuela president Nicolas Maduro has finally been named. The Department of Justice today unsealed an indictment against Gannon Ken Van Dyke, a U.S. Army Special Forces master sergeant, charging him with using classified military intelligence to place […]
April 23, 2026
Industry
What John Oliver Got Wrong, Right About Prediction Markets on Last Week Tonight
John Oliver dedicated 32 minutes of his HBO show Last Week Tonight to prediction markets on Sunday night. The comedy news show with millions of viewers marked another mainstream cultural moment for prediction markets that didn’t paint the emerging financial vertical in the best of light. Oliver’s segment was entertaining and largely fair, but missed […]
April 20, 2026
Volume Report
Kalshi Maintains $3B Weekly Volume, Polymarket Pulls Back Post-Masters
Weekly notional volume on the two largest prediction markets pulled back from the prior week’s Masters-fueled highs. Kalshi posted $3.06B for the week of April 13, down 13.6% WoW from the prior week’s record $3.54B. Polymarket had $2.04B in notional volume last week, down 17.5% from $2.48B, according to DeFi Rate’s prediction markets volume tracker. […]
April 20, 2026
Industry
Ninth Circuit Debates Gaming vs Swaps Divide in Nevada vs. Kalshi Hearing
The US District Court for the Ninth Circuit didn’t let either side off easy in Thursday’s hearing for oral arguments in Nevada’s cases against Kalshi, Robinhood, and Crypto.com. Judges pressed on whether Congress ever clearly authorized federal regulators to displace state sports betting laws, while also probing whether CFTC rules already prohibit the very contracts […]
April 16, 2026