Polymarket has been steadily rising in popularity in recent years, but it surged in 2024 when it became a breeding ground for bets on election outcomes.
The predictive market, similar to other platforms like Kalshi, lets betters place odds on nearly anything – the guest list for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding, how many tweets Elon Musk will send out this week, and if "Jesus Christ will return before 2027."
But a new bet toes the line between casual cruelty and plain apathy: Will hantavirus reach pandemic status in 2026? As of 2 p.m. ET on May 7, it is the top trending bet on the platform, with nearly $1 million in shares purchased.
It's not the first time profiteers have used Polymarket to cash in on disaster. In 2023, interest in speculative betting markets surged after the missing Titan submersible − on which all five passengers died − went viral.
Hantavirus live updates: Latest as US residents monitored for case spread
