Kalshi Settles $3.32M Spotify Market After Fraud Alert

Kalshi finalized a $3.32M settlement for a Spotify chart prediction market despite trader claims of data manipulation and subsequent stream removals by the platform.

Woofun AI reports that Kalshi settled a $3.32 million prediction market regarding Spotify’s U.S. daily chart rankings, despite trader Caleb Davies requesting a delay to allow regulatory investigation into suspected streaming data manipulation. Davies highlighted that Malcolm Todd’s song "Earrings" surged 70% in one day to reach the top spot on June 29, with open interest jumping from $2,000 to over $70,000. Robert DeNault, Kalshi’s head of compliance, stated that only Spotify could verify the legitimacy of the streams, and the settlement was processed shortly after this response.

Spotify subsequently removed 523,000 streams from "Earrings," which would have placed the song fourth rather than first on that date. The streaming service also demanded that Kalshi and Polymarket remove their branding, confirming no partnership existed. Kalshi has complied with the branding removal and revised its wording. Spokesperson Elisabeth Diana confirmed ongoing contact with Spotify and an internal investigation, though no settlement reversal or compensation has been announced.