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Robinhood is diving into prediction markets, launching its own service for traders looking to bet on outcomes of future events.
The in-app betting hub will debut with a mix of wagers available for political predictions and sporting events. Early bettors can bet on US interest rates in May and the upcoming March Madness college basketball tournament.
The competition will launch Tuesday, but has already attracted significant betting volumes. A Polymarket bet on the final winner has a trading volume of nearly $9 million.
Robinhood views its foray into prediction markets as a way to serve the broader interests of its retail trader base. The popular investing app will start rolling out contracts on Monday, made available through Kalshi, an established predictions exchange.
Shares in Robinhood climbed as high as 2.75% Monday morning.
The firm has been eyeing betting markets for a while. In February, CEO Vlad Tenev cited plans to have a "leading role" among betting exchanges, given the market's potential.
"First of all, I think prediction markets are the future of not just trading, but also information," he said. "I've been a big believer in the power of prediction markets for a long time — kind of a student of them — and I think prediction markets should be live for everything."
His point was on full display ahead of the 2024 presidential election, as betting markets correctly assumed that Donald Trump would win a second term. The event put prediction markets on the map for investors, with Polymarket and Kalshi becoming the go-to exchanges.
Meanwhile, Robinhood has dabbled in the sector before unveiling its new hub. In February, it launched Super Bowl event contracts, though this was halted by a request from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
