Type "Kalshi welcome bonus code" expecting a sportsbook-style number — a fixed $200, guaranteed, printed on a landing page — and the real program is a little stranger. New accounts that qualify get a randomized trading credit somewhere between $15 and $500, and the code entered at signup mostly decides which version of that range applies, not the exact amount.
What Actually Unlocks It
The gate is the same regardless of which code a new user types: create an account, deposit at least $10, and settle $25 in qualifying event-contract trades within seven days. Clear that and Kalshi grants a bonus under the terms posted at kalshi.com/tc/500. No minimum deposit beyond that $10 is required to start trading toward the requirement.
The random draw is the part most pages skip. For codes that route into the standard welcome campaign, the payout is drawn from $15 to $500 — and about seven in ten qualifying accounts land at the $15 floor. The advertised "up to $500" headline is real, but rare enough that the true average across new users sits closer to $25.
Why SI60 Is Worth Naming Specifically
SI60 currently breaks from the randomized pattern: it pays a guaranteed $60 in trading credit for the identical $10-deposit, $25-trade requirement that puts other codes into the random draw. A guaranteed $60 is a better bet than a random shot that lands at $15 seven times out of ten — which is the math a new user is actually facing with most of the circulating codes, MILE’s $2,000-ceiling framing included.
The Clock Still Runs
Whichever version a new account draws, the credit behaves the same way once it lands: it is not cash, it cannot be withdrawn directly, and Kalshi’s terms expire it seven days after it is granted. Only money made by trading with that credit — not the credit balance itself — ever becomes withdrawable.
To unlock it: new account, $10+ deposit, $25 traded in event contracts within 7 days.
What most codes pay: randomized trading credit, $15–$500, roughly 70% land at $15, average near $25.
Guaranteed alternative: SI60, a fixed $60 instead of the random draw.
Not available in: Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, and Washington, per current tracking.
Still Not a Sportsbook Offer
Kalshi is a CFTC-designated exchange, not a sportsbook, and a welcome credit is not free money any more than the contracts it gets traded on are a sure thing. It only has value if the trades placed to unlock it were positions worth holding regardless of the bonus attached. Confirm current eligibility and terms in the signup flow before assuming a specific code or dollar figure applies to a given state.