Robinhood Halts Super Bowl Event Contracts
Robinhood has temporarily suspended its event-based contracts for Super Bowl betting following a request from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The platform had just launched these contracts but pulled them within a day of their release. Initially, Robinhood had made the product available to only 1% of its users as a limited rollout.
Regulatory Pressure Leads to Swift Suspension
Robinhood had partnered with Kalshi, a regulated event-contract exchange, to introduce these contracts. The offering allowed users to place market-driven wagers on the outcome of the Super Bowl matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs. However, CFTC intervened quickly, leading to an immediate halt.
Customers who had already placed bets were given two choices: close their positions or wait for settlement. While Robinhood complied with the regulator’s request, it expressed frustration over the situation. The company noted that it had been in frequent communication with CFTC regarding the product and did not anticipate this response.
Robinhood Still Aims for a Bigger Role in Event Contracts
Despite this setback, Robinhood remains committed to expanding its event-based trading options. The company emphasized its plans to work closely with CFTC to bring a more robust event contracts platform to market in the future.
Robinhood first entered the event contract space in October 2023, shortly after Kalshi won approval for election-related contracts. The firm sees these offerings as a way to diversify its product lineup beyond traditional stock and crypto trading.
For now, Robinhood’s event contracts experiment is on hold, but the company remains optimistic about its long-term ambitions in the regulated prediction market space.
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