Prediction markets are having a moment. Kalshi just saw its valuation jump to double what it was before—a clear signal that institutional money is warming up to these platforms.

What's driving this? The appetite for alternative data sources is real. Traditional finance folks are starting to see prediction markets not just as betting platforms, but as genuine forecasting tools. When real money flows into crowd wisdom, you get price discovery that sometimes beats analyst models.

Kalshi's growth isn't happening in a vacuum either. The entire prediction market vertical is expanding as regulatory clarity improves and more sophisticated traders enter the space. These platforms are proving their worth—from election forecasting to economic indicators, the crowd often gets it right when incentives align properly.

The valuation surge reflects something bigger: investors betting that decentralized information aggregation will become a standard tool for risk assessment. Whether that thesis plays out depends on execution, but the capital backing it suggests serious conviction in the model.