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June 6, 2026 / 9:00 AM EDT
/ CBS News
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Earlier this year, Thomas Christian Owens decided to try his hand at prediction market trading for the first time. He created a Kalshi account in January. Three months and a $500 deposit later, he started betting."It was a little bit of a birthday gift to myself to throw some money in there and just have some fun," the 29-year-old manufacturing engineer told CBS News.Owens wasn't expecting to make a killing. He told CBS News that he wanted a little extra money in his pocket to support himself and some of his family members. He had some early successes, but just over a month after he started trading, the Oklahoma City resident found himself in the red.Young men like Owens say they are drawn to prediction markets in search of thrills, fast money and in some cases, financial security. Close to 40% of young men between 18 and 34 use prediction markets, according to an April survey from Navigator Research, a public opinion research organization. On Kalshi, one of the leading prediction markets in the U.S., roughly 3 million of the platform's 4 million active users are male. Six in 10 of the platform's total users are between the ages of 18 and 34. Prediction markets have recently drawn scrutiny for alleged insider trading — with men at the center of several high-profile cases. That includes a Google employee who was accused of allegedly making more than $1.2 million on Polymarket betting on confidential company information. A U.S. special forces soldier was arrested after allegedly betting on the removal from office of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro before news of the U.S. raid was made public. Former Rep. George Santos of New York is also under scrutiny for alleged insider trading on Kalshi.Experts say it's not surprising that men are the primary customers of prediction markets, given their propensity for risk.
