Robinhood jumps into election betting
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Robinhood Markets is jumping into election betting.
Why it matters: With over 23 million funded customers, the retail brokerage is offering up wagers on the U.S. presidential election to its massive U.S. network.
For Robinhood, Monday's move is the latest attempt to attack new areas of growth. It's also an example of pouncing quickly on a hot, and potentially temporary, opportunity.
- Best known for commission-free stock trading, the company earlier this month laid out a new offering of advanced tools designed for more active traders. And it also outlined a new derivatives offering that will allow customers to trade index options and futures.
The big picture: Platforms like Polymarket, Kalshi and PredictIt have already cast a huge spotlight this year on election betting, recently described by Axios' Nathan Bomey and Brady Dale as an increasingly influential but still poorly understood force in U.S. politics.
- Previously an offshore market not legally available to U.S. bettors, election wagering in the States found a lane earlier this year when a U.S.-registered prediction market, Kalshi, sued the CFTC for banning its offering.
- It won a stay against the ban, meaning that Kalshi — and others, like Robinhood — could offer wagers while the case moves to appeal after the election.
What they're saying: "We believe event contracts give people a tool to engage in real-time decision-making, unlocking a new asset class that democratizes access to events as they unfold," Robinhood said Monday in announcing the new offering.
Market impact: Robinhood's stock jumped 3% Monday.
