Kalshi is backing a new bipartisan House bill that would require online sportsbooks and prediction markets to use facial technology to verify that customers are old enough to trade or wager.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) introduced the Facial Recognition to Protect Children Act on Wednesday alongside Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour and Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), a bill cosponsor. Mansour joined the lawmakers for a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol.
According to a press release announcing the bill, platforms would be required to verify a user’s age either when the person logs in or before allowing the user to trade or wager. The technology would estimate age by analyzing facial structure and patterns without storing the user’s identity or personal biometric information.
“Protecting kids should be a no brainer and is a top priority at Kalshi,” Mansour said in the release. “Beyond what’s required of us, we already self-regulate and have a suite of measures in place to keep minors off our platform. But this can’t just be one company’s responsibility — it has to be an industry standard.”
A bill number and full legislative text had not been published as of Wednesday afternoon.
Bill would require facial age checks before trading, betting
The legislation would require online sportsbooks and prediction markets to use what the press release calls “facial recognition age-verification technology” either when users log on to a platform or before they are allowed to place a wager or trade.
The technology would analyze facial structure and patterns to estimate whether a user meets the platform’s minimum-age requirement without storing the person’s identity or biometric information, according to the release. Kalshi and many other prediction market platforms allow trading at 18, while state-regulated sportsbooks require customers to be 21 in most states.
“We’re asking our kids to self-police their way past a system built entirely on the honor code,” Gottheimer said. “A kid can log into a parent’s, an older sibling’s, or a friend’s account and place a bet with no verification at all. Nobody checks. That’s it. That’s the whole system.”
The proposed process more closely resembles facial age estimation than traditional facial recognition, which typically identifies or authenticates a particular person. The release does not identify a technology provider or clarify whether users would undergo the check every time they log in, before every transaction or at some other interval.
The absence of public bill text also leaves other details unclear, including which agency would enforce the requirement, what penalties platforms could face and how adults could challenge an incorrect age determination. It is also unclear whether the requirement would apply to all prediction market contracts or only sports-related trading.
The bill’s cosponsors include Suozzi and Reps. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.), Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Mich.), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), Darren Soto (D-Fla.), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.).
Gottheimer praises Kalshi, calls out rival platforms
Gottheimer used the press conference to portray Kalshi as the operator willing to accept the proposed age-verification requirement while criticizing other sportsbooks and prediction market operators that declined to support it.
“I really want to thank Kalshi for stepping up and for doing the right thing, and offering to protect our children,” Gottheimer said, according to excerpts posted on X by Kalshi spokesperson Jacki McGavick. “Those of you who aren’t, you claim to care about this issue and protecting our children. You’ve told me that you are not interested in targeting teenagers. But all I get is radio silence when it’s time to make a real commitment to do just that. So please step up. Stop the double talk.”
Gottheimer said he had personally contacted traditional sportsbooks and prediction markets offering sports contracts, although he did not identify the companies.
“We need the traditional sportsbooks to step up, and all prediction markets that get into sports to step up and do the right thing,” Gottheimer said in another excerpt posted by McGavick. “Believe me, I called them. Before, I said, I’m just going to see how long it’s going to take to come back to us. And they come up with every excuse. I’m calling all of them to sign on and do the right thing.”
Mansour framed Kalshi’s support as consistent with free markets while arguing that the industry also needs common protections for minors.
“While I believe in free markets, I also believe that we have a joint responsibility and duty to establish the right set of guardrails to ensure people are not getting hurt,” Mansour said. “And that starts with protecting and keeping minors off these platforms. That’s why I’m glad to see Congress thinking about this and taking action.”
Kalshi embraces targeted federal regulation
Kalshi has previously supported congressional action imposing guardrails on certain prediction market trading, particularly proposals targeting government officials and others with access to nonpublic information.
In January, Mansour said in a LinkedIn post that Kalshi supported Rep. Ritchie Torres’ Public Integrity in Financial Prediction Markets Act, which seeks to prohibit federal officials and employees from using material nonpublic information to trade on prediction markets. Mansour said the measure would affirm an insider trading prohibition Kalshi already enforced.
In April, Mansour also applauded a Senate resolution barring senators and Senate employees from prediction market trading and urged the House to adopt a similar restriction.
Those endorsements came through statements or social media posts and largely involved restrictions Kalshi said it already enforced. Wednesday’s event went further, with Mansour appearing beside Gottheimer to support legislation that would require Kalshi and competing platforms to add facial age checks they do not currently use.
The appearance allowed Kalshi to present itself as willing to accept targeted federal consumer protections while it continues to oppose proposals that would prohibit sports event contracts altogether.
