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Key Takeaways
- Robinhood customers will soon be able to trade on the outcome of "March Madness."
- Trading platform Robinhood enters the event contracts game by launching a prediction markets hub inside its app.
- In February, Robinhood suspended trading in the Pro Football Championship on the request of CFTC.
March Madness is just around the corner. Robinhood Markets is joining the fun.
The online trading platform on Monday said it is launching "a prediction markets hub directly within the Robinhood App, giving customers the opportunity to trade on the outcomes of some of the world's biggest events."
The hub—which the firm said initially would be available across the U.S. via Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated exchange KalshiEX—”will allow customers to trade contracts for what the upper bound of the (Federal Reserve’s) target fed funds rate will be in May, as well as the upcoming men’s and women’s College Basketball Tournaments,” Robinhood said.
It is the second attempt in less than a month for Robinhood to enter the sports event contracts market. On Feb. 3, it said it would allow users to buy event contracts on which team they thought would win the “Pro Football Championship,” but suspended trading just a day later upon CFTC request.
This time, Robinhood noted that it has "been in close contact with the CFTC over the past several weeks and look forward to continuing to work with them to promote innovation in the futures, derivatives and crypto markets."
Robinhood announced that all eligible customers will be able to purchase contracts in the next few days.
Last fall, Robinhood began offering event contracts for the U.S. Presidential election.
The shares of Robinhood were up 9% at the close of Monday’s trading. They have soared by 135% in the past year.
