Robinhood announced Monday that it is entering the growing politics forecasting market by allowing users to trade Kamala Harris or Donald Trump contracts. On the 2024 presidential election.
The investment platform said in a press release that users were able to start trading as long as they met certain qualifications such as being a US citizen. The event contract is being offered by Robinhood Derivatives and ForecastX.
Contracts will be priced between two cents and 99 cents, with a $1 payout if the user guesses the winning candidate.
Company spokeswoman Christina Trejo told Forbes that users can purchase up to 5,000 poll contracts, meaning Robinhood users could win a payout of up to $5,000 if they guess correctly.
Robinhood is one of the most recognized firms to be involved in the election betting industry. The move comes after Kalshi and Interactive Brokers won a ruling against the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to allow election results trading. The CFTC is appealing this decision.
Since the ruling, Interactive Brokers has launched various political contracts.
In a close race, more people are turning to political betting markets to predict who will win the presidency. Betting platforms placed heavy bets on Trump’s victory. It is unclear how the betting markets compare to surveys when it comes to the accuracy of predicting outcomes.
Election betting markets faced controversy last week when political gambling platform Polymarket confirmed that four accounts that collectively bet more than $28 million on Trump were controlled by the same trader.
The company told CNBC that the trader was a French national with “extensive trading experience and financial services background.”
Polymarket, which is currently restricted to US traders, said there was no evidence that traders were trying to undercut Trump’s odds in betting markets.
For users wishing to trade Harris and Trump contracts, trading will be open nearly 24/7 during election week, with a 15-minute no trading period at 5:00 pm ET each day.
Payment for the contracts will be made on January 7-8, 2025.
