Name: Betting on anything is exploding in popularity
Uploaded: 2025-12-04T02:30:55.559Z
Duration: 2 min 56 s
Description: Prediction-market trading, where you can invest in the outcome of real-world events, is rapidly growing in popularity.

Prediction-market trading, where you can invest in the outcome of real-world events, is rapidly growing in popularity.

Online prediction markets, where users can bet on the outcomes of real-world events, are experiencing rapid growth in the United States. Platforms such as Kelshi and PolyMarket allow users to legally trade on topics ranging from sports to celebrity news, with some individuals reportedly earning significant weekly profits.

However, the expansion of these platforms has raised concerns among experts and regulators, particularly regarding the lack of gambling regulation and the potential for users to lose their savings by betting through financial apps. Several states have initiated lawsuits against these companies, and federal regulations are evolving as the industry continues to attract high-profile advisors and expand its user base.

Betting on anything is exploding in popularity

In tonight's Eye on America, we're looking at a form of online betting that's rapidly growing in popularity. That's prediction market trading, where you can invest in the outcome of real-world events. Senior business and tech correspondent, Joel Lankent, looks at the risks. Joel Holsinger just quit his day job to bet on anything. Like if Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will say the word pardon in a press conference. Wait, just let's go, let's go, that's part of me. I streamed and watched the speech live, Powell coughed and said, pardon me, and I made $500. From his computer, the 26-year-old says he makes about $3,000 a week trading on the prediction market, Kelshi. Kelshi lets you legally trade on anything, anywhere in the U.S. Thanks to companies like Kelshi, PolyMarket, and PredictIt, betting on anything from elections to Taylor Swift has never been easier. What is a prediction market? So a prediction market is like the stock market, but instead of buying and selling companies, you're buying yes or no on whether something is going to happen or not. Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopez-Lara are the co-founders of Kelshi. People can make money on what they know, actually monetize their knowledge, monetize their hobby. Kelshi's users trade an average of a billion dollars a week, banking heavily on sports. You can bet on things that a traditional sports book would offer you. Which is a concern for author Jonathan Cohen, who has chronicled the rise of sports betting in the U.S. So you think this is just gambling? Yes. But Kelshi is not regulated like gambling, and several states have sued, alleging the platform offers unlawful sports wagering. And unlike most sports betting sites, users can also bet on games in other financial apps, which hold investments like retirement accounts. In the same app that you use to manage your 401k or your stock portfolio, you can bet on the Jets game. Creating more risk that some bettors could drain those savings. That friction is gone. You can gamble on sports, and you can gamble away your life savings. And while federal regulations on prediction markets are rapidly evolving, both Kelshi and its main competitor, PolyMarket, have brought on a new strategic advisor, the president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. Does he come to meetings? How much do you pay him? What's his role? I mean, this is the son of the president. We, again, I mean, we have a lot of advisors. And whether it's our investors, whether it's people that we trust and respect. But he's not just any advisor. He has a direct line to the White House. We have a lot of advisors. While Kelshi's CEO did not answer that question, one thing is clear. Kelshi believes the popularity of online betting is just kicking off. For Eye on America, I'm Jolene Kent in New York.

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