What is it?
The Liquidity Incentive Program rewards you for placing resting orders that improve market liquidity. This program pays you for maintaining orders on the books that help other traders get better prices, even if your orders don't get filled.
Program Dates
Program end: January 1, 2027
Note: Kalshi can end or modify the program at any time.
Eligibility
Who can participate: Most regular U.S. Kalshi members
Who cannot participate:
Kalshi affiliates and employees
Market makers with existing agreements
Introducing Brokers, FCMs, and their customers
International, non-U.S. users (ineligible for rewards)
How It Works
Earning Rewards
Place resting orders in eligible markets
Kalshi takes a snapshot of the order book once per second, at a random moment within each second
Your orders are scored based on size and proximity to the Reference Price
Earn a share of the reward pool based on your liquidity contribution
Market Selection
All Kalshi markets are potentially eligible
Active reward periods are clearly marked on market pages
Each market shows its liquidity incentive schedule
Scoring System
Key Parameters (Set Per Time Period)
Target Size: more than 100 and fewer than 20,000 contracts (the depth that must be resting on each side for a snapshot to count)
Discount Factor: up to 1.00 (sets how steeply orders priced below the Reference Price are discounted. At 1.00 there is no distance penalty at all, and the penalty steepens as the factor falls toward zero)
How Your Score is Calculated
Step 1: Snapshot Scoring
Kalshi first finds the Reference Price for that snapshot. Walking down from the best bid, it is the first price level at which cumulative resting size reaches one fifth of the Target Size. It is calculated fresh for every snapshot rather than set in advance, and it is not always the best bid or ask - a small order alone at the top of the book does not set it
For each snapshot, Kalshi scores every resting order that helps reach the Target Size on its side
Each qualifying order is scored on order size (larger = higher score) and distance from the Reference Price (closer = higher score, using the Discount Factor)
If a side of the book never reaches the Target Size, no orders on that side qualify for that snapshot
Step 2: Distance Penalty
Orders priced at or better than the Reference Price get full credit (1.0x multiplier)
Orders priced below the Reference Price get reduced credit: the Discount Factor raised to the number of ticks away
Step 3: Size Weighting
Your raw score for an order = Order Size × Distance Multiplier
Raw scores are then normalized: each order is divided by the total raw score of all qualifying orders on that side. What counts is your share of qualifying liquidity, not your absolute size
Both sides count separately. Your snapshot score is your share of the yes side plus your share of the no side, so a single snapshot is worth at most 2.0 across all participants
Step 4: Total Score and Payout
Your Time Period score = your total snapshot scores ÷ all participants' total snapshot scores
Your reward = Your Time Period Score × Time Period Reward × (non-excluded snapshots ÷ total snapshots), rounded down to the nearest cent
When Snapshots Don't Count
A snapshot is excluded from scoring if any of the following applies at the moment it is taken:
The market is not open for trading
There is not two-sided liquidity - resting orders must meet the Target Size on both the yes side and the no side
Excluded snapshots reduce the amount paid out. The reward for a Time Period is scaled by the share of snapshots that were not excluded, so a market that lacks two-sided depth for part of the period pays out proportionally less than its headline reward.
Example: A Time Period has a $100 reward and 10,000 snapshots. 8,000 of them have two-sided liquidity meeting the Target Size, and 2,000 are excluded. If your share of the Time Period score is 20%, you would earn 20% × $100 × (8,000 ÷ 10,000) = $16.00.
Rewards Structure
Time periods: Up to 31 days each, and time periods may overlap
Daily rewards: $1-$1,000 per market, per day
Minimum payout: $1.00 (rounded down to nearest cent)
Tax Information and Reward Payouts
A verified Social Security Number (SSN) must be on file to receive reward credits above annual IRS reporting thresholds. That threshold covers referral and incentive credits together, so referral earnings count toward the same limit. You can add your SSN in the Kalshi app at any time.
For details on reporting thresholds and the tax documents Kalshi provides, see What Tax Documentation Does Kalshi Provide?
Program Rules
Monitoring:
Kalshi monitors for abusive behavior and market manipulation
Participant status can be revoked for violations
Program may be terminated at any time
Transparency:
The Program's effective terms are posted publicly on Kalshi's regulatory notices page
Market pages show eligibility and reward information
Note: Kalshi can end the program at any time. For the latest updates, visit https://kalshi.com/regulatory/notices.