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We haven't seen the worst of what gambling and prediction markets will do

derekthompson.org

21–30 of 741 posts

Re: We haven't seen the worst of what gambling and prediction markets will do

#21

'Predictions' market is the silliest loophole for gambling. Honestly, more surprised Fanduel, DraftKings and the like who have spent millions on lobbying and buying licenses, are not fighting tooth and nail on this.

They totally are tho. And at the same time trying to win via the loophole if it doesn't close by launching their own efforts

Re: We haven't seen the worst of what gambling and prediction markets will do

#22
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the prediction markets, there's a fine line between predicting and manifesting.

I mean, I'm talking about things like hurricanes and earthquakes and forest fires, not running death pools.

I think I see where you're coming from, but if we're using them to predict hurricanes, it's likely just meteorological data arbitrage. All else seems like random chance; hardly an example of an oracle.

Re: We haven't seen the worst of what gambling and prediction markets will do

#23
> I don’t think people have thought hard enough about how bad this could get.

given that the crypto anarchist papers from the 90s that these markets are built on are very well thought out instruction manuals about how bad it could get, this title implies users are gullible idiots as opposed to the creators and power users

An individual's susceptibility to a vice is an individual problem. So I take issue with all the flippant comments about this being a "gambling loophole", like, who cares? I don't think any financial game should be seen as a different category than the other.

Even the "positive expected value" framework masquaraded as a distinction between trading and a casino game is completely false and entirely a cultural distinction. There are many equities and bond trades that have lower expected value than a casino game, even this forum is populated by people that receive shares and derivatives as compensation, who will earn nothing - even lose money - under positive outcomes. Exhibit A. Not everyone needs to care how a particular financial game is perceived. Not all cultures need any social segregation of gambling versus another way of making money from money. I'd rather be part of those cultures. And in the US/Western gambling regulatory frameworks and prohibitions, prediction markets don't fit, that isn't a loophole to me. They are structurally different and I'm not entirely sure what people want to happen and how it is supposed to be enforced. I don't get the impression they've looked at all, and are just operating on a feeling that I find irrelevant.

And on the insiders, yes, that's the point of prediction markets. They are intended to be distributed bounties with plausible deniability. That's literally what Jim Bell's 1995 crypto-anarchist paper was about.

In the natural course of finance, every asset, including information, should be tradable, as long as improvements in liquidity continue to come.

Re: We haven't seen the worst of what gambling and prediction markets will do

#24

"where key decision makers in government have the tantalizing options to make hundreds of thousands of dollars by synchronizing military engagements with their gambling position" To wit: where key decision makers in government can get paid to reveal war secretes to our enemies.

Why not both? There's money to be squeezed from both ends.

Re: We haven't seen the worst of what gambling and prediction markets will do

#26

'Predictions' market is the silliest loophole for gambling. Honestly, more surprised Fanduel, DraftKings and the like who have spent millions on lobbying and buying licenses, are not fighting tooth and nail on this.

If I made a platform like that, I'd be RICO'd after the FBI kicked down my door and confiscated everything I own.

If I had the connections Polymarket does, well, then we can just place bets on when people will die, everything will work out just fine and the President will invest in me.

Re: We haven't seen the worst of what gambling and prediction markets will do

#27

Assuming everything physical gets tokenized (as occasionally gets predicted), people could soon literally lose their house on a bet! Maybe even a bet placed by their swarm of agents. The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades!

Bet your shirt AND the farm from the comfort of your phone

Re: We haven't seen the worst of what gambling and prediction markets will do

#28

'Predictions' market is the silliest loophole for gambling. Honestly, more surprised Fanduel, DraftKings and the like who have spent millions on lobbying and buying licenses, are not fighting tooth and nail on this.

Kalshi has Trump Jr on its board and is federally regulated. I'm not sure FanDuel and DraftKings will win that fight for the next 3 years.

Re: We haven't seen the worst of what gambling and prediction markets will do

#29
post #20
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, I'm talking about things like hurricanes and earthquakes and forest fires, not running death pools.

> forest fires Fire bug > earthquakes Dynamite the fault > hurricanes Crazy, but, hear me out: mirrors in space warming the Atlantic, mirrors in Africa warming the atmosphere ("solar power"), Trump wanting to nuke a hurricane, etc. Pandemic? Go harvest bats and put them in a cage with chickens. You don't even need a molecular bio lab. Stock market crash? Bombs. Terrorist attacks. Energy prices? Derail a train carryin…

"Dynamite the fault"? What are you, a Bond villain?

Re: We haven't seen the worst of what gambling and prediction markets will do

#30

> I don’t think people have thought hard enough about how bad this could get. given that the crypto anarchist papers from the 90s that these markets are built on are very well thought out instruction manuals about how bad it could get, this title implies users are gullible idiots as opposed to the creators and power users An individual's susceptibility to a vice is an individual problem. So I take issue with all the…

> An individual's susceptibility to a vice is an individual problem.

That ignore the societal influence on an individual. If everyone around you gambles, you are more inclined to take up gambling.

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