Robinhood Debuts March Madness Prediction Markets as Event Derivatives Gain Traction in US

Robinhood has launched a prediction market that may enable customers to guess on this 12 months’s March Insanity basketball event—the most recent signal occasion derivatives are gaining traction within the U.S. regardless of ongoing regulatory challenges.  

Starting Monday, Robinhood customers can place wagers on the Nationwide Collegiate Athletic Affiliation’s March Insanity event, which runs from mid-March to early April. 

The prediction markets are powered by Kalshi, a startup that fought and gained its authorized battle in opposition to regulators to function occasion contracts in the course of the U.S. presidential election final fall.

It’s unclear if the buying and selling platform helps wagers denominated in crypto, which each startups assist, or if customers could solely place bets in US {dollars}. 

Neither Robinhood nor Kalshi instantly responded to Decrypt’s request for touch upon the matter. 

Robinhood’s rollout of money-line markets for sporting occasions comes as prediction market operators present indicators of clearing at the least among the regulatory hurdles which have lengthy prevented them from working stateside.

Late final 12 months, Kalshi gained its lawsuit in opposition to the Commodities and Futures Buying and selling Fee, enabling the startup to reaunch its betting swimming pools on U.S. election outcomes. 

Within the weeks following its authorized victory, the buying and selling platform had notched greater than $275 million in inflows to its electoral markets—an indication of People’ appetites for prediction markets. 

Nevertheless, market operators nonetheless face some scrutiny from regulators, complicating their efforts to extend entry to prediction markets within the U.S. 

Final month, Robinhood shuttered its prediction market service for the Tremendous Bowl only a few hours after its launch, Fortune Journal reported. The choice got here after the buying and selling platform obtained appreciable pushback from the CFTC, in response to the publication. 

In the meantime, Kalshi obtained final week an order from playing regulators in Nevada to halt its buying and selling choices for sporting occasions and elections, Kalshi co-founder Tarek Mansour mentioned in an X publish. The cease-and-desist order accused the startup of providing contracts in an analogous method to unlicensed sports activities betting providers.  

Robinhood shares are buying and selling at $42.02, up roughly 3% up to now 24 hours.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair