Kalshi says the CFTC has not contacted it and it does not believe a formal examination is under way into unusual Ether perpetual trading on its platform. The denial follows a CoinDesk analysis showing more than half of sampled Ether perpetual volume clustered near a single price level, which Kalshi attributes to its liquidity-incentive programmes rather than to trading-volume rewards.
Kalshi said on September 23 that the CFTC had not contacted the company and that it did not believe a formal examination was under way over unusual trading in its Ether perpetual contracts. The company pointed to liquidity-incentive programmes for market makers as the cause, not trading-volume rewards.
Ether perpetual volume clustered near $5,499
The denial follows a CoinDesk analysis finding that a substantial share of sampled Ether perpetual volume clustered near a single price level. CoinDesk examined 3,450 Ether-perpetual trades across 23 one-hour samples collected between September 17 and September 20. Trades executed within $2 of $5,499 accounted for $7.7 million of the $13.5 million in sampled volume, or 57%.
CoinDesk also reviewed 46 hourly samples spanning June 19 to September 20 and reported recurring fixed-dollar Ether trades in 43 of them. As Ether's price moved, the number of contracts in each trade changed while the transactions' intended notional amount stayed nearly constant. The analysis documented the repetition and concentration of the activity without determining why participants placed the orders.
Kalshi points to fixed-fee liquidity programmes
Kalshi set out its explanation in a September 22 statement, saying market makers were posting fixed-size orders under programmes designed to pay flat fees for keeping resting liquidity available rather than fees tied to trading volume. Under that account, a market maker's incentive links to maintaining an order rather than generating more transactions.
Its self-clearing-member fee-rebate programme began in July, with a related filing taking effect on September 16, and the programme prevents participants from receiving net-negative fees on a trade. That July start date sits inside the period CoinDesk reviewed, which began on June 19, though the outlet's findings also cover trading before the programme launched and after the September filing took effect. The exchange maintains that the trading pattern reflects the mechanics of liquidity provision and its fee structure.
Source: Crypto Daily
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