Mark Zuckerberg Wants a Prediction Market Too: NYT

First it was stablecoins. Then it was the metaverse. Now it’s prediction markets.

Under Mark Zuckerberg, Meta has made a series of bets on crypto-adjacent tech, and now the social media giant could be preparing for its next one in light of Polymarket and Kalshi’s surging popularity, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.

Meta’s CEO has reportedly supported the creation of an app that’s internally dubbed “Arena,” prompting a small number of workers to create a platform that enables people to make predictions on events using points as opposed to real-world cash.

With millions of users spread across social media networks like Facebook and Instagram, Meta is hoping that its massive customer base can fuel the adoption of its prediction market, the outlet reported, citing two employees with knowledge of the matter.

Meta has tried to establish a prediction market before, notably Forecast. Released in 2020, the app, which allowed people to forecast what the future would look like as the pandemic-era crypto boom took shape, was shuttered roughly two years later.

The report described the initiative as experimental, but the development underscores broad-based interest in prediction markets, from staid financial firms like Intercontinental Exchange to gambling giants like DraftKings and fintechs such as Robinhood.

It would not be the first time that Meta has dipped its toes into a crypto-adjacent sector facing growing calls for regulation among lawmakers, who currently argue that prediction markets are in need of guardrails to protect vulnerable consumers.

The company faced intense pushback on Capitol Hill in 2019 after unveiling a stablecoin called Libra and an accompanying digital wallet named Calibra. The project was shelved after being rebranded to Diem, with its assets later sold to the collapsed Silvergate Bank.

What’s more, Meta has reportedly poured $80 billion into Zuckerberg’s vision for the metaverse. And earlier this year, the company said that it would stop creating new virtual reality experiences for Horizon Worlds, once viewed as the heartbeat of its metaverse push.

That’s not to mention Instagram’s short-lived support of NFTs. Despite efforts to bring digital collectibles to the masses, the initiative was scrapped a year after its announcement.

Still, Meta has come to support crypto in other ways. In April, the firm—which once caught flak for a pair of fake legs on Zuckerberg’s avatar—began allowing content creators to receive earnings in USDC stablecoin directly to their crypto wallets across several networks.