Trading platform Robinhood on Monday launched a prediction markets hub in its app that allows customers to trade on event outcomes, including the expected upper limit of the Federal Reserve funds rate in May.
The company’s shares were last up 6% in afternoon trading.
Event contracts have exploded in popularity since the U.S. presidential election. These contracts allow traders to bet on specific outcomes, offering opportunities to profit from predictions on everything, from sports and entertainment to politics and the economy.
Robinhood and its peers such as Interactive Brokers have rolled out event contracts in recent months, as they look to cash in on the boom.
The company entered the sector with a wildly popular launch of contracts to bet on the U.S. presidential election in October.
However, its rising popularity has fueled a heated debate between traders who have embraced the nascent asset class and critics who have likened it to gambling.
In February, Robinhood scrapped event contracts allowing users to bet on the Super Bowl outcome just a day after launch, following a request from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Robinhood said it has been in contact with the CFTC in recent weeks and will continue to work with the regulator to “promote innovation in the futures, derivatives and crypto markets”.
“We’re excited to offer our customers a new way to participate in prediction markets and look forward to doing so in compliance with existing regulations,” said JB Mackenzie, VP and GM of futures and international at Robinhood.
The launch advances Robinhood’s push to become a full-service financial firm, and compete with dominant derivatives brokers.
“Businesses and investors can use these markets to hedge against uncertain events and associated risks,” Robinhood said in a recently released policy statement.
Robinhood’s prediction markets will initially be available across the U.S. through KalshiEX and eligible customers will be able to bet on the results of the upcoming college basketball tournaments.
—Manya Saini and Niket Nishant, Reuters
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