Apr 28, 2026
Luana Lopes Lara is the world's youngest self-made female billionaire and co-founder of Kalshi, the prediction market that sued the U.S. government and won.
Natalie Brunell sits down with Luana to trace her journey from a rigorous ballet school in Brazil to MIT, then to a trading desk at Citadel, and into a multi-year battle with the CFTC that ended in a federal lawsuit. After 65 lawyers told her the idea was impossible, Kalshi sued the U.S. government — and won one month before the 2024 election.
We get into:
- What prediction markets are, and how Kalshi's data is being used as a forecasting tool
- What it's like being named the world's youngest self-made woman billionaire - all before she's 30
- The four-year regulatory fight with the CFTC and the decision to sue to U.S. government
- How Kalshi screens for insider trading — and where the stock market doesn't
- Why nearly 30% of Kalshi's users are women, well above most trading platforms
- Her first Bitcoin: a $100 giveaway from the MIT Bitcoin Club
- A Federal Reserve paper found Kalshi's markets outperformed economists at forecasting macro trends
- Her case for why the American Dream is still alive
Follow Luana Lopes Lara on X: https://x.com/luanalopeslara and follow Kalshi at https://x.com/Kalshi
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