Jeremy Bragin
Interactive Brokers
ForecastEx, Kalshi and CME contracts in one brokerage account, with a 3.38% incentive coupon
4.4/ 5
CoinStats scoreBest for: comparing ForecastEx, Kalshi and CME prices in one account.
- Regulator
- CFTC: offers event contracts through Interactive Brokers LLC, a CFTC-registered futures commission merchant, on ForecastEx, its affiliated exchange, Kalshi and CME
- Fee on $100 at 50¢
- $2.00 to $4.00
- Minimum deposit
- No account minimum
- Deposit options
- Wire, ACH, online bill pay, Wise, check and stablecoin
- Settlement and payout
- The clearinghouse credits $1 per winning contract at resolution. Payout dates are on each contract’s schedule.
- States
- No state list published and no sports contracts offered; 21 and over
Scored on our published method, from what Interactive Brokers publishes.
Open Interactive BrokersHow we make money
CoinStats may earn a commission if you open an account through links on this page. No venue pays for its score: it comes from the same published method, applied to every app.
Are Interactive Brokers prediction markets legit?
Yes. Interactive Brokers is a Nasdaq-listed broker in the S&P 500, not an offshore app. Its prediction markets run through Interactive Brokers LLC, a futures commission merchant registered with the CFTC.
It helps to see the layers. IBKR's app takes your order, and IBKR LLC holds your account. An exchange lists the contract: ForecastEx, Kalshi or CME Group. A clearinghouse stands behind the $1 payout.
ForecastEx is the unusual layer, because IBKR owns it. The CFTC registered it as both an exchange and a clearinghouse in June 2024. Trading began on August 1, 2024, on a web platform called ForecastTrader.
So “legit” holds at every layer. It does not mean free of conflicts. IBKR runs the broker, owns one of the three exchanges and routes orders among them. Here is how that plays out.
Is Interactive Brokers safe? How your money is held
Your cash sits in your account at Interactive Brokers LLC. ForecastEx rules require its broker members to keep customer money apart from their own, under CFTC rules.
Buy a ForecastEx contract and its full price moves to ForecastEx as collateral. The rulebook segregates that money as customer property, apart from ForecastEx's own funds. There is no margin, so a position never calls for more money. Kalshi and CME contracts clear through those exchanges' own clearinghouses instead.
Now the limits. IBKR says SIPC covers its securities accounts up to $500,000, including $250,000 in cash. It adds, in plain words, that futures and options on futures are not covered. ForecastEx contracts are swaps under CFTC rules, not securities. So count on segregation, not SIPC.
Then there is the conflict. IB Global Investments, an IBKR affiliate, trades on ForecastEx as a liquidity provider on both sides. ForecastEx fills its bids last at every price, behind other customers. That sits oddly with ForecastEx's own FAQ, which says it has no market makers.
Opening an account takes your Social Security number, your employer's details and your bank account numbers. Every login then needs a second factor, such as the IBKR Mobile app or a passkey.
Are Interactive Brokers prediction markets gambling?
Legally, no. ForecastEx says the CFTC classifies its contracts as swaps, a kind of derivative. They sit under federal derivatives law, overseen by the CFTC rather than state gaming boards.
In your wallet, the line is thin. You pay for a yes-or-no outcome, and if you are wrong you lose all of it. A Reddit thread in the Interactive Brokers community calls the product “predatory” and “actual gambling.”
IBKR steers clear of sports, where most state fights happen. It lists no sports contracts, and you must be 21. ForecastEx itself did try sports. It listed NFL and NBA games from November 2025, then quietly stopped in March 2026.
The court fights are mostly about sports, and mostly about Kalshi. Some reach further: court orders in Nevada and Washington also close Kalshi's election contracts. Every case is on our prediction market legal tracker.
Interactive Brokers lawsuits and complaints
Search for IBKR prediction markets and you will meet a moral complaint: brokers should not sell gambling. The public record is narrower. We know of no state lawsuit or cease-and-desist order naming IBKR or ForecastEx. Missouri's orders of September 18, 2026 named six apps, and IBKR was not one. The record below concerns the broker, plus one ForecastEx episode.
- The negative oil price order When oil futures went below zero in April 2020, IBKR's system could not show or take negative prices. The CFTC fined it $1.75 million. IBKR had already repaid customers $82.57 million. Source
- An $11.8 million sanctions settlement The Treasury's sanctions office settled with IBKR over services to people in Iran, Cuba, Syria and Crimea, among others. It called the conduct non-egregious and voluntarily self-disclosed. Source
- ForecastEx's sports contracts came and went ForecastEx self-certified a vaguely named “Success Forecast Contract” covering games and athletes. It listed NFL and NBA games from November. Users traded about $251 million before listings stopped in March 2026. Source
- A $5 million class settlement Batchelar v. Interactive Brokers, filed in 2015, attacked how IBKR's system liquidated margin accounts. The court approved a settlement on June 17, 2026. IBKR paid $5 million and forgave about $1.8 million in debts, admitting no liability. Source
The CFTC also fined IBKR $11.5 million in 2020 over anti-money-laundering lapses on commodity accounts. None of these cases concerns how a ForecastEx contract settles. They concern the broker that holds your money, and how it handles mistakes.
How Interactive Brokers prediction markets work
Each market is a yes-or-no question with a close date and a named data source. Prices run from 1¢ to 99¢. A correct contract pays $1, and a wrong one pays nothing.
| Cost of the contracts | $40.00 |
| Fee, at most 2¢ a contract | $2.00 |
| Total you pay | at most $42.00 |
| Paid out if the answer is Yes | $100.00, a profit of at least $58.00 |
| Paid out if the answer is No | $0.00, a loss of at most $42.00 |
Since May 2026, IBKR shows ForecastEx, Kalshi and CME prices side by side. Its order screen then picks the best price after fees. Fees are part of that math, and ForecastEx's are the lowest of the three.
ForecastEx has one rule that surprises people: you cannot sell. To exit, you buy the opposite side. The Yes and No pair then settles at $1 the next banking day, with a fee on each purchase.
Here is ForecastEx's own example. You buy Yes at 43¢, and the price falls to 20¢. You buy No at 80¢ to get out. After two 1¢ fees, you lose 25¢ instead of 44¢.
Limit orders work, and so does IBKR's ScaleTrader algorithm for building a position in steps. ForecastEx contracts trade nearly 24 hours a day, Sunday to Friday.
Interactive Brokers prediction market fees
1¢ a contract on ForecastEx; 2¢ on Kalshi or CME, commission and exchange fee together. On $100 at 50¢, which buys 200 contracts, that comes to $2.00 to $4.00.
It is a flat fee per contract, not a formula. On ForecastEx the 1¢ is the exchange fee alone, with no commission. On Kalshi or CME, 1¢ goes to IBKR and 1¢ to the exchange.
Two quieter costs sit elsewhere. ForecastEx keeps 50 basis points of the interest on collateral before it pays the coupon. And IBKR allows two free withdrawals a month, then charges $1 to $10 each.
Watch one line in IBKR's own FAQ. It calls event contracts zero-commission, but its fee schedule shows that holds for ForecastEx only. Compare every venue on our prediction market fees page.
Does Interactive Brokers pay out? Withdrawal times and holds
Yes. A winning ForecastEx contract credits $1 to your account at settlement. ForecastEx settles daily at 1 PM Central, covering contracts resolved by noon.
Settlement can wait, though. If a data source is late or in doubt, ForecastEx can open a review before it pays.
Withdrawals go out by ACH, wire or check, or as USDC, PYUSD or RLUSD to your own wallet. The first two requests each calendar month are free. After that, IBKR charges $1 for ACH, $4 for a check and $10 for a wire. Stablecoin withdrawals cost 0.35% on the first $5,000, charged by zerohash. They can pause when its capacity runs short, as on October 1, 2026.
One hold catches people. An ACH deposit you start on IBKR's site can only go back to that same bank for 44 business days.
| Money | When it is available |
|---|---|
| Winning ForecastEx contract | $1 at the daily 1 PM Central settlement |
| Offset Yes and No pair | $1 the next banking day |
| Incentive coupon | Paid monthly, win or lose |
| ACH deposit started on IBKR's site | Any time back to the same bank; elsewhere after 44 business days |
What you can trade on Interactive Brokers
IBKR lists politics, economics, finance and climate contracts. Examples include the Fed funds rate, inflation, jobless claims, crypto prices and global temperature. Election contracts are for eligible US residents only.
There are no sports. ForecastEx prices are public on its data page, so you can look before you open an account.
Depth is the weak spot. ForecastEx's own risk disclosure warns that thin bids can force you to pay more to exit.
Where Interactive Brokers prediction markets are available
IBKR offers event contracts to eligible clients 21 and over. It publishes no list of states where they are blocked.
That keeps its map simple. Most state bans target sports, and IBKR lists none. We know of no state action naming IBKR or ForecastEx.
One caveat. When IBKR routes an order to Kalshi, court orders that bind Kalshi apply too. In Nevada and Washington, those orders reach Kalshi's election contracts.
Laws move fast here, so check your state's page before you trade.
Not legal advice.
The Interactive Brokers app and support
On the App Store, Interactive Brokers rates 4.5 from 11,487 ratings. On Google Play it rates 4.5 from 75.8K. Both were read on September 25, 2026.
Those scores cover the whole IBKR Mobile app, not prediction markets alone. Contracts also trade in IBKR Desktop, Trader Workstation, Client Portal and the ForecastTrader web platform.
IBKR runs a free prediction markets simulator, so you can practice before funding.
Phone support runs from Sunday 1 PM to Friday 7:30 PM Eastern. Chat runs from Sunday 8 PM to Friday 8 PM. There is no support on Saturday.
Interactive Brokers pros and cons
Pros
- Regulated at every layer. A CFTC-registered broker, plus exchanges and clearinghouses registered with the CFTC.
- Three exchanges, one account. ForecastEx, Kalshi and CME Group contracts, with the best price after fees picked for you.
- Low, flat fees. 1¢ a contract on ForecastEx and 2¢ on Kalshi or CME, all in.
- A coupon on open positions. ForecastEx positions earn 3.38% APY on their closing value, paid monthly, win or lose. The rate is variable.
- Paid in full, never on margin. ForecastEx positions are fully collateralized, so one never asks for more money.
Cons
- No sports. Politics, economics, finance and climate only.
- No selling on ForecastEx. You exit by buying the opposite side and paying a second fee.
- 21 and over. Adults under 21 cannot trade event contracts at IBKR.
- An affiliate in the order book. An IBKR affiliate provides liquidity on ForecastEx, though its bids fill last.
- No Saturday support. Phone and chat close from Friday evening until Sunday.
Interactive Brokers vs the alternatives
Interactive Brokers ranks fifth of 15 apps in our ranking of prediction market apps, at 4.4 out of 5.
If you want sports, look elsewhere. Kalshi lists every category we track, and IBKR already routes some orders there. Robinhood routes to Kalshi and ForecastEx, and it lists sports.
Our verdict: is Interactive Brokers worth it for prediction markets?
Interactive Brokers is legit, and its costs are low and published. Fees run 1¢ to 2¢ a contract, and ForecastEx positions earn a coupon.
The trade-offs are real. There are no sports, you must be 21, and ForecastEx contracts cannot be sold. IBKR also owns one of the exchanges its router picks from.
It suits people who already use IBKR, or who trade economic data. As on any market here, you can lose everything you put in.
Before you start, check whether prediction markets are legal in your state.