Some companies want to bet on US elections. Not everyone agrees.
Al Jazeera
With US elections coming up, some platforms like Kalshi are in the spotlight for wanting to bet on the outcome.
Tarek Mansour spent several years working in finance at firms like Goldman Sachs and Citadel before launching the groundbreaking fintech startup Kalshi. Using his background in finance, he built the first regulated exchange, running what are called “event contracts” or ways to trade on current affairs like national elections.
With the upcoming 2024 United States presidential election, increasingly razor-thin Republican control in the House of Representatives and the contentious GOP primaries, Kalshi and platforms like it – including PredictIt, Polymarket and Smarkets – are in the spotlight for allowing financial bets that critics worry could sway voters.
Event contracts are comparable to trading on the stock market. Like the speculative nature of Kalshi’s offerings, its product is more closely aligned with commodity trading – hedging on the future price of oil, natural gas, wheat or coal.
“We focus on events that are of economic and social value,” Mansour told Al Jazeera.
Like trading on the stock market, a given company’s share price could rise and fall based on current events. For instance, if there is an escalation in COVID-19 cases, Moderna’s stock could be affected.
