The end of domestic football season was a success for PRED, we started out as a small gated platform with the next imminent steps involving major upgrades and partnerships. While we keep developing PRED, let’s take a look at general news in prediction market
The biggest industry story of the week. On May 20, the Senate Commerce Subcommittee held its first-ever formal hearing titled "No Sure Bets: Protecting Sports Integrity in America."
Senators from both parties sharply questioned the rapid expansion of prediction markets into sports wagering, raising concerns about gambling addiction, consumer protections, sports integrity, youth exposure, and whether federally regulated event contracts are undermining state gaming laws. The hearing was essentially a bipartisan pile-on but the consensus from insiders is it won't change much.
As Dustin Gouker (Event Horizon) noted, if you want to know whether prediction markets survive, watch the courts, not the Senate. Polymarket traders gave only a 23% chance that SCOTUS accepts a sports event contract case by December. Great narrative angle for the newsletter.
Big mainstream entry this week. Betr, the company behind the world's first real money gaming super app, announced it has acquired Ascent Capital Management Inc., securing NFA and CFTC registration to advance the launch of prediction markets within the Betr super app.
The move paves the way for integrating prediction markets, powered by Polymarket technology, directly into its app with over one million paying users across 34+ states. This is massive for mainstream adoption Jake Paul's audience meeting prediction markets is a genuinely new demographic unlock.
Relevant internationally, Polymarket has been blocked for users in India after a government directive ordering internet providers to cut access to certain betting platforms.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had reportedly already issued a blocking order for Polymarket and was preparing a similar order for Kalshi.
Indian authorities classify prediction markets as prohibited online money gaming. Interesting angle for a globally-minded community like PRED's.
With Polymarket recording nearly $2.9 million in 24-hour volume on the Thunder–Spurs Game 2 market alone, these are the most liquid sports markets running this week.
The series is tied 1-1 after a Wembanyama masterclass in double OT Game 1 and an OKC bounce-back in Game 2. The Spurs are NBA Finals frontrunners at 31.2% implied probability, with Jalen Williams exiting with a hamstring injury in Game 2 introducing material uncertainty into Western Conference Finals pricing.
Meanwhile in the East, the Knicks vs. Cavaliers matchup generated over $1.75 million in 24-hour trading volume on the Game 2 moneyline alone, with New York priced at approximately 64.5% implied probability.