Robinhood CEO expects crypto contracts to overtake sports markets

Robinhood Chairman and CEO Vlad Tenev told CNBC's Jim Cramer that crypto event contracts are taking an outsized share of Robinhood's prediction-markets business. Tenev said he expects sports wagers to become a minority within a few years. Event contracts are yes-or-no trades on the outcome of a future event. Prediction markets have become a fast-growing part of US trading over the past year, with CME, Kalshi, Coinbase and decentralized platforms competing in the sector. Crypto-linked contracts have grown alongside the broader market. The article says they have largely remained outside legal disputes involving sports-betting contracts, giving the category more room to expand while those cases proceed through the courts. New York sued Kalshi in July, seeking more than $36 billion in damages and a nationwide ban on its event contracts. Baltimore separately sued Kalshi and Polymarket over what the city calls unlicensed sportsbooks. New York City's council has opened a probe into how Kalshi, Polymarket, Coinbase and Gemini Titan market prediction contracts to residents. Robinhood recently formed a joint venture with market maker Susquehanna to acquire crypto exchange MIAXdx, formerly LedgerX, with plans to launch dedicated prediction-market infrastructure, according to Front Office Sports. Robinhood has called prediction markets its fastest-growing revenue line, with roughly nine billion event contracts traded on the platform over the past year. Tenev has also linked the strategy to a broader ownership push involving Robinhood's retirement-account matching and expansion into tokenized stocks. Whether crypto contracts overtake sports contracts on Tenev's timeline remains unverified.