WASHINGTON — Robinhood is allowing customers to wager on the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.
The popular online trading platform announced its presidential election market on Monday, allowing customers to trade contracts on whether they think former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris will win the election on Nov. 5.
Robinhood said it would begin rolling out the forecast event contracts on Monday to a limited number of investors, who must be U.S. citizens.
The company defines forecast contracts as a "contract whose value is based on whether a specific event will occur at or before a specific time." Users interested in the event contract will encounter a disclosure warning that “commodity interest trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone.”
"We believe event contracts give people a tool to engage in real-time decision-making, unlocking a new asset class that democratizes access to events as they unfold," Robinhood said in a press release.
Robinhood Markets rose 3% shortly after Monday's announcement.
The platform's jump into the presidential election betting game comes after a federal appeals court decision allowed Americans to resume betting on elections.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit dissolved an order it had previously issued that prevented New York startup company Kalshi from taking bets on which political party would control the House and Senate after this November's elections.
The ruling allowed for such betting to continue while the court further considers the underlying issues in the case.
Better Markets, a non-profit group advocating for the public interest in financial markets, called the decision “a sad and ominous day for election integrity in the United States.”
“Gambling on elections will create powerful new incentives for bad actors to interfere with our elections and sway voters outside of the democratic process," said Stephen Hall, the group's legal director. “The use of AI, deepfakes and social media to manipulate voters and influence election outcomes has already become all too real. Ready access to an election gambling contract such as Kalshi’s will intensify that danger with the promise of quick profits.”
Hall said that allowing bets this late in the election cycle could open the door to potentially unfixable problems.
“There is no way to undo the potential damage to the public interest of allowing bets in the final weeks of an election year,” he said. "No matter what, we have yet another reason to be concerned about the upcoming elections.”
