Minnesota becomes first state to ban prediction markets

VikingCoder

Anyone taking bets on how that ban will last?

everdrive

I wonder if it can really be enforced. It's clear that prediction markets are a scourge -- there seems to be no upside whatsoever.

1899-12-30

*Minnesota becomes first state to ban the use of prediction markets as a loophole for sports gambling.

mark212

as the article notes, prediction markets are regulated by the CFTC as a commodities futures contract, so I'm not sure how any state law survives a federal pre-emption challenge. On the other hand, it's a little unusual to see a federal agency suing to protect its turf. Would've expected a class action by a Minnesota user of the service to bring the challenge instead.

SilverElfin

Doesn’t this violate commerce between states, effectively?

tardedmeme

If a prediction market uses AI will this violate the federal ban on states impeding AI?

steve1977

Isn't the stock market a prediction market as well?

calvinmorrison

where did the lear about this?

superfrank

For the record, Minnesota currently has a complete ban on sports betting. We've seen a couple other states that allow sports betting go after prediction markets. Personally, I feel that any state that allows sports betting is going to struggle to argue a case to ban prediction markets because you're essentially arguing over implementation details. Even arguments that certain prediction markets are ripe for insider trading or morally wrong fall a bit flat when you realize that traditional sportsbooks let you bet on things like college basketball player props and the little league world series. I'm still not sure Minnesota will win their case, but it feels like that detail gives them a lot better chance of winning compared to many other states.

OsrsNeedsf2P

> The prohibition extends to services supporting prediction markets, like virtual private networks, that could allow consumers to disguise their location and get around the ban. I'm sorry, what the fuck?

sergiotapia

There should be a ban on the instagram reels showing gambling like it's not a big deal. They are deliberately targeting teens and it's quite sickening. If you work at one of these companies it's the same as working for a payday loan company. You are making blood money.

mghackerlady

Love it here, only sane state there is these days. Everywhere else is either brain dead, too hot, or too mean

rebekkamikkoa

It’s hard to pretend this isn’t at least gambling-adjacent when most people are simply betting on outcomes.

CPLX

They've been banned for generations. It's called gambling. Of course, we all have to sit through another round of Silicon Valley pretending they've discovered some new exciting business model that's just vice. Unlicensed gypsy cabs, SROs, shift work, patent medicines, narcotics dealing, customs fraud, and smuggling already had established market entrants I guess.

Imnimo

I could imagine cases where prediction markets could offer some actual insight, but in practice they seem few and far between. Most markets I've seen devolve into one or more of: betting on unimportant events (e.g. sports games), insider trading, or poorly written ambiguous resolution criteria. It's just hard for me to imagine that, on net, these markets will offer more societal good than the harm we've seen from sports betting.

Robotbeat

Does this ban the prediction markets that don’t use real money but instead tokens that are worthless?

yamillove

It would be good if they banned Learing Centers.

kklisura

Cue in the talking heads to tell us how devastating this ban is.

kyledrake

They're not going to get rid of them, they're just going to drive them underground, which will make them impossible to regulate, which will make using them less safe. I don't participate in prediction markets, but I would bet everything I own on this outcome.

jongjong

They should ban the stock market as well then since the stock market is essentially just a prediction market.