How to read and understand Kalshi instrument tickers
Every market on Kalshi has a unique ticker — a structured string that encodes what the market is about, when it expires, and which outcome it represents. Think of it like a stock ticker, but for prediction markets.
A Kalshi ticker is built from up to four segments, separated by hyphens:
Not all segments are always present. Simple markets may only have two or three parts.
KX[SERIES]All Kalshi tickers start with KX followed by a topic identifier. This tells you what category or subject the market belongs to.
| Prefix | Meaning | Category |
|---|---|---|
KXBTC | Bitcoin price | Crypto |
KXETH | Ethereum price | Crypto |
KXINX | S&P 500 index | Financials |
KXWTI | WTI oil price | Financials |
KXFEDDECISION | Fed rate decision | Economics |
KXNBAGAME | NBA game outcome | Sports |
KXMARMAD | March Madness | Sports |
KXHIGH | Daily high temperature | Climate & Weather |
KXTRUMPSAY | Trump word mentions | Mentions |
KXPRESNOMD | Presidential nominee | Elections |
KXRT | Rotten Tomatoes score | Entertainment |
KXSPACEX | SpaceX launches | Companies |
KXMEASLES | Measles cases | Health |
[DATE]Encodes when the market applies or expires. Common formats:
| Format | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
26MAR30 | Specific date: Mar 30, 2026 | KXBTCD-26MAR3009 |
26APR | Month: April 2026 | KXFEDDECISION-26APR |
26 | Year: 2026 | KXMARMAD-26 |
26-Q1 | Quarter: Q1 2026 | KXTESLA-26-Q1 |
28JUL01 | Deadline date: Jul 1, 2028 | KXCITRINI-28JUL01 |
27 | Year: 2027 | KXALIENS-27 |
For daily markets (weather, crypto prices), the date often includes an hour: 26MAR3009 = March 30, 2026 at 9:00.
[VARIANT]Specifies the threshold, strike price, or specific sub-question. Prefixes indicate the type:
| Prefix | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
T | Threshold / "above this value" | T67899.99 → BTC above $67,899.99 |
B | Between / bracket | B37500 → BTC between bracket at $37,500 |
G | Greater than / at least | G45 → shutdown ≥ 45 days |
C | Cut (Fed rate cut) | C25 → 25bps rate cut |
H | Hold (Fed rate hold) | H0 → rates held |
| (number) | Numeric threshold | 6000 → 6,000 measles cases |
| (text) | Named outcome | AUTI → Trump says "Autism" |
[OUTCOME]For multi-outcome events (e.g., sports), the last segment identifies which side or team:
| Ticker | Breakdown |
|---|---|
KXBTCD-26MAR3009-T67899.99 |
KXBTCD Bitcoin daily ·
26MAR3009 Mar 30, 2026 at 9:00 ·
T67899.99 above $67,899.99
|
KXFEDDECISION-26APR-C25 |
KXFEDDECISION Fed rate decision ·
26APR April 2026 meeting ·
C25 cut by 25bps
|
KXHIGHNY-26MAR30-T69 |
KXHIGHNY NYC daily high temp ·
26MAR30 Mar 30, 2026 ·
T69 above 69°F
|
KXTRUMPSAY-26MAR30-AUTI |
KXTRUMPSAY Trump word mention ·
26MAR30 by Mar 30, 2026 ·
AUTI says "Autism"
|
KXIPLGAME-26MAR30CSKRR-CSK |
KXIPLGAME IPL cricket game ·
26MAR30 Mar 30, 2026 ·
CSKRR CSK vs RR matchup ·
CSK Chennai Super Kings win
|
KXTESLA-26-Q1-340000 |
KXTESLA Tesla deliveries ·
26-Q1 Q1 2026 ·
340000 ≥ 340,000 vehicles
|
KX stands for Kalshi Exchange. Every instrument on the platform starts with this prefix.
Simple yes/no markets (e.g., "Will aliens be confirmed by 2027?") only need a series and time: KXALIENS-27. Markets with multiple outcomes, strike prices, or variants need additional segments.
KXBTCD = daily, KXBTCW = weekly, KXBTCM = monthly Bitcoin markets. Same pattern applies to ETH and other crypto tickers.
The format is KX[LEAGUE]GAME-[DATE][AWAY][HOME]-[SIDE]. For example, KXNBAGAME-26MAR30BOSATL-BOS is an NBA game on Mar 30 with Boston (away) at Atlanta (home), and this contract is for Boston winning.
Yes! The search box on the main dashboard searches across market titles, event names, categories, and tickers. Try searching for KXBTC to find all Bitcoin markets, or KXFED for Fed-related markets.
Yes. Once a market is created, its ticker never changes. You can use tickers to track specific markets over time or reference them in the Kalshi API.