Opinion Archives

Polymarket, Kalshi Love Criminal Case Markets—Why None On NBA Scandal?

October 25, 2025

So-called “prediction” betting websites Kalshi and Polymarket often offer markets on high-profile criminal cases, including arrests and indictments. But one unfolding scandal is entirely missing from their respective platforms. On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted several people in and around the NBA for involvement in alleged “insider” gambling. The government said the case…

Law, News, Opinion

A ‘Trump Online Casino’ In All 50 States Is More Likely Than You Think

Brian Pempus

October 23, 2025

Legal experts have attributed the rise of a controversial form of sports gambling to Donald Trump’s second term as president. Could a new form of online casino gambling be on the horizon? So-called “prediction markets” — gambling platforms that facilitate binary peer-to-peer bets on sports, politics, pop culture, and sometimes even war — have thrown…

Opinion

The Decline Of ‘Responsible’ Sports Betting—But What’s Next Is Worse

Brian Pempus

October 20, 2025

The growing push to reframe sports betting as trading, predicting, or investing, has major implications for the “responsible gambling” model adopted by states. The word “betting” itself could be considered a euphemism for gambling, but the new terminology is even more troubling. The so-called “prediction market” sector, currently led by Kalshi and Polymarket but with…

Opinion, Prediction Markets

Billionaire Gambling Investor Calls Critics ‘The Antichrist’

Brian Pempus

October 10, 2025

German-American billionaire Peter Thiel, investor in the online betting platform Polymarket, has called critics of his investments “legionnaires of the Antichrist” in a series of threatening lectures, The Washington Post reported Friday. In leaked audio obtained by The Post, Thiel railed against what he believes are evil forces in U.S. society that criticize industries such…