New York Times and The Athletic workers demand company scrap Kalshi deal • Hacker News Board

Re: New York Times and The Athletic workers demand company scrap Kalshi deal

#201

Post by freejazz » Thu, Sep 03, 2026, 8:19 PM UTC

esalman wrote: post #178

freejazz wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing needs to be done, Kalshi has no loophole. The Ninth Circuit ruled on exactly this last week.

Incorrect. Ninth circuit ruled in favor of Nevada State, but earlier this year third circuit ruled in favor of Kalshi. So it's going to the Supreme Court. All of the above is completely independent from what Congress can or cannot do.

The third circuit's opinion is poorly reasoned and its not binding precedent in California anyway, which can now regulate Kalshi because the ninth circuit's decision is binding precedent in California. Congress does not need to do anything, the law is clear that states can regulate gambling. The thought that Congress needs to address that is preposterous. They'll go through to same song and dance in the second circuit too - want to make a bet on how that'll turn out?

Re: New York Times and The Athletic workers demand company scrap Kalshi deal

#202

Post by baggy_trough » Thu, Sep 03, 2026, 8:33 PM UTC

palmotea wrote: post #87

baggy_trough wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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> Both unions (as legally constructed in the US) and sports gambling are cancers. What's wrong with sports gambling? No one's forcing anyone to play, and it's a highly lucrative business with lots of customers. Unions, on the other hand, involuntarily infringe on the freedoms of business owners to wield their economic power for their own benefit as they see fit.

I appreciate the libertarian take on this, which works well for high IQ people and people with good self control. It doesn't work for many without those attributes. Unrestrained gambling can ruin lives and families.

Re: New York Times and The Athletic workers demand company scrap Kalshi deal

#203

Post by FireBeyond » Thu, Sep 03, 2026, 8:36 PM UTC

bluecalm wrote: post #91

stefs wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Congress to close the loophole But i think one of the prediction markets more important uses is to enable insider trading for the current administration.

It's a lazy argument imo. As corrupt as they might be there is way more money to make in the stock market or bond market if you have insider info. There is little reason for them to go after peanuts in the prediction markets.

I don't entirely agree. There's an angle on the "if corrupt, who cares?" but the stock and bond market have orders of magnitude more oversight and (potential) consequences than the risks and consequences of insider trading on the prediction markets.

Re: New York Times and The Athletic workers demand company scrap Kalshi deal

#204

Post by HDThoreaun » Thu, Sep 03, 2026, 8:44 PM UTC

mikeryan wrote: post #6

I really don’t understand how these markets survive a competent DOJ considering the rate they’re having to ban people for “insider trading”. Fully appreciate the Unions position here.

Insider trading is like the whole point of prediction markets. Users pay the insiders for better information

Re: New York Times and The Athletic workers demand company scrap Kalshi deal

#205

Post by mrguyorama » Thu, Sep 03, 2026, 8:45 PM UTC

astura wrote: post #46

Someone tampered with the weather equipment at Charles de Gaulle airport for a Polymarket bet. This sort of thing is going to become so much more common going forward. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/23/hairdryer-or-l... On another note, I had no idea the athletic was owned by NY Times.

We've literally been through this before:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sox_Scandal

It's always corrosive to society in a way other vices really aren't. Money is a massive influence and incentive, and in gambling you can artificially increase the possible incentive size with long shot bets.

The best part of how gambling makes everything shit is that gambling addicts will ruin the sanctity of everything that claims authenticity for just a few actual dollars of "profit", after you ignore all the money they've lost by betting, which addicts tend to do.

Assholes who insist betting on things are the best and totally great for the world somehow will harm a sports event that ten thousand people have paid a hundred dollars to enjoy just to earn a hundred bucks themselves.

Re: New York Times and The Athletic workers demand company scrap Kalshi deal

#206

Post by amelius » Thu, Sep 03, 2026, 9:49 PM UTC

azan_ wrote: post #198

amelius wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes your comment better or less "populist" than mine? What does populism even have to do with it?

Evil bankers/finance people vs ordinary workers performing jobs everyone can understand, that’s classic populist tactic.

Perhaps, but how is it helping the discussion by framing it like that?

Re: New York Times and The Athletic workers demand company scrap Kalshi deal

#207

Post by amelius » Thu, Sep 03, 2026, 9:52 PM UTC

logicchains wrote: post #140

amelius wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For one thing because now people who own high-speed low-latency connections to stock markets have no advantage over "normal" people who actually do meaningful work, like being a policeman or nurse.

>people who actually do meaningful work, like being a policeman Making a sudden event that happened on the other side of the world reflect in the local market price at almost the speed of light is far more meaningful work than going around shooting dark-skinned people.

If this is how people in finance think, then this only makes my point stronger. The financial world is disconnected from reality and needs to be restrained.

Re: New York Times and The Athletic workers demand company scrap Kalshi deal

#208

Post by JohnTHaller » Thu, Sep 03, 2026, 11:00 PM UTC

mikeryan wrote: post #6

I really don’t understand how these markets survive a competent DOJ considering the rate they’re having to ban people for “insider trading”. Fully appreciate the Unions position here.

There's nobody left at the DoJ in a high enough position to do anything like this. I'm not a gambler myself, but if I were, I certainly wouldn't used something that seems made for insider traders and suckers.

Re: New York Times and The Athletic workers demand company scrap Kalshi deal

#209

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Sep 03, 2026, 11:17 PM UTC

Alex3917 wrote: post #118

tantalor wrote: post #57

The linked article is pretty interesting: > found a pattern of [Polymarket] sharing false and misleading information https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/20/technology/polymarket-soc... They don't have much to say about Kalshi other than "unlike real mainstream journalism, there’s no accountability". Which isn't saying much, because nobody is claiming prediction markets are a type of journalism.

> nobody is claiming prediction markets are a type of journalism. James Surowiecki wrote an entire book essentially saying otherwise.

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Re: New York Times and The Athletic workers demand company scrap Kalshi deal

#210

Post by what » Fri, Sep 04, 2026, 1:06 AM UTC

abirch wrote: post #28

gavinsyancey wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most competent people at the DOJ have either been fired or left. And the current administration seems to love insider trading, so long as they can be the insiders doing the trading.

I'll leave this here, Donald Trump Jr got a free stake in Kalshi. https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/options/articles/donald-tr...

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