Robinhood expands its offerings with a new platform for election betting

The ongoing fascination with political betting markets is gaining new momentum as Robinhood announces its entry into this field. The popular trading platform recently unveiled its plans to introduce its own betting contracts for the upcoming 2024 presidential election. This move follows the growing popularity of platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi, which allow users to place targeted bets on election outcomes. Particularly noteworthy is the development at Kalshi, whose access for U.S. citizens was approved by a court earlier this month. In a short time, the company has recorded over $100 million in wagers. Kalshi subsequently became one of the most popular apps in the Apple App Store, surpassing offerings like Cash App, PayPal, and Venmo in the free financial apps category. Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour expressed ambitious plans to reach the top position in the App Store by election day and describes the current growth as exponential. Meanwhile, Polymarket is experiencing a massive surge in trading, even though it is not accessible in the U.S. In October, an impressive $2 billion was wagered on the platform, quadrupling the value of the previous month and exceeding the figures from April tenfold. It is noteworthy that the platform has garnered significant attention in the U.S. despite not being available there. This is particularly due to its forecasts, which see Donald Trump as the clear favorite, while other polls predict a tight race. Furthermore, there are concerns regarding the bets of so-called "whale" traders on Polymarket. For instance, a single trader has placed over $30 million on the election outcome, with a significant portion of these bets targeting a Trump victory. In a comparable move, Interactive Brokers also launched a series of election betting contracts this month following court approval for Kalshi.