Why your available balance can be lower than your total balance
Your perps account shows a total balance, but not all of it is available to transfer or withdraw at any given moment. A few things can reduce your available balance:
Margin allocated to open positions. Collateral backing an open position cannot move until you close the position.
Margin reserved by resting orders. Open limit orders reserve margin even before they fill. Canceling a resting order frees that margin.
Cash pending settlement. When you close a position, your profit and loss is finalized during the next settlement cycle. Kalshi Klear runs two daily settlement cycles. Until your cash settles, it appears in your balance but cannot be transferred or withdrawn yet.
Promotional credits. Credits and bonuses (referral rewards, promo credits) are non-transferable between your predictions and perps balances, and cannot be withdrawn directly — only profits generated from trading with them can move.
"Insufficient balance" when transferring
If you see an "insufficient balance" error while your account displays enough money, it almost always means part of that balance is in one of the categories above — most commonly cash pending settlement after you closed a position. Wait for the next settlement cycle and try again.
How long do transfers take?
Transfers between your predictions balance and your perps margin account normally complete within seconds. During rare periods of high volume, a transfer can take up to an hour to finalize. Your funds are never lost during this window — if a transfer shows as pending, it will complete without any action from you.
Withdrawing to your bank
Only settled cash that is not allocated to positions or orders can be withdrawn. This is why your withdrawable amount can be lower than your displayed balance. Recent card or ACH deposits may also be subject to a standard hold period before they can be withdrawn.
Double-check where your money is going
Your predictions balance and your perps margin account are separate, and the transfer and withdrawal screens ask you to pick a source and destination. Two mix-ups we see often:
Choosing your perps account as the destination when you meant to withdraw to your bank — the money lands in your perps balance instead of your bank account. It's not lost; go to the Portfolio tab, select your perps account, and withdraw or transfer it from there.
Depositing into perps when you meant to fund predictions (or vice versa). Simply transfer the funds to the intended account from the Portfolio tab — subject to the settled-cash rules above.
Small leftover balances
Transfers have a minimum amount, so a few residual cents can get stuck if you try to empty your account. If you want to fully zero out your perps balance and the app won't let you, contact support and we'll take care of it.
Still stuck? Contact support
If your funds haven't freed up after the next settlement cycle (within 24 hours of closing your position) and you have no open positions or resting orders, contact support and include: the amount you're trying to move, the approximate time you tried, a screenshot of the error, and whether you recently closed a position. This helps our team get back to you as soon as possible.