RIPPLE EFFECT: Never one to miss an opportunity to jump on a bandwagon (or steal someone else's idea), Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has directed a small team to create a prediction market app. The big difference is that it won't use actual money for trades – though that could change at some point.
The app, which is said to be called Arena, is in its experimental stages, reports The New York Times.
Prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi have seen their popularity skyrocket in the years since they launched, despite the controversies. Kalshi calls itself a hedging platform, but many say it's just sports betting in disguise.
Meta appears to be playing it safe in that regard. A person familiar with the plans told CNBC that the social media giant's version would not use real money. Instead, Arena will likely use a video game-like points system.
That decision does feel like it will affect the app's popularity. It's hard to imagine a huge number of people would use prediction-market apps, or any betting app, just for the fun of it, or to boast about how many points they've won.
