On the latest Last Week Tonight, John Oliver examined the surging field of so-called prediction markets, which have seen exponential growth in recent months with billions of dollars of bets every week for questions such as “will traffic in the strait of Hormuz return to normal by the end of April” or “will the US confirm that aliens exist by 2027?”
The rapid growth and conversation takeover is thanks in part to aggressive marketing pushes by the two big players in the market, Kalshi and Polymarket. “It is shocking the extent to which prediction markets have proliferated,” the host said. “And sometimes it’s been a little unnerving, given the things that you can now bet on.” He cited more recent queasy betting situations, such as “will Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapper be arrested by 28 February?”
