Ask ten people about prediction markets, and you’ll likely get ten different answers.
To some, they’re nothing more than sportsbooks dressed up in financial clothing. To others, they’re sophisticated tools for hedging real-world risk.
However, for the average user, the experience is much less abstract. For them, it’s simply this: put your money on an uncertain outcome, cross your fingers, and hope for the best.
Prediction markets have experienced rapid growth over the last year, with Kalshi and Polymarket reaching multibillion-dollar valuations.
As they continue to expand into sports and other consumer-facing categories, the debate over what prediction markets really are, and what protections they owe their users, is becoming harder to ignore.
