Robinhood Weighs Adding Crypto.com Prediction Contracts, Deepening Challenge to Kalshi

Robinhood Markets Inc. is in talks to add prediction-market contracts from cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com to its platform, a move that would diversify the sources of event contracts available to its users.

The Wall Street Journal reported on July 25, citing people familiar with the matter, that Robinhood and Crypto.com are discussing a deal. If an agreement is reached, users would be able to trade yes-or-no contracts offered on Crypto.com's prediction-market platform without leaving the Robinhood app.

Robinhood currently offers event contracts through several exchanges, including Kalshi, ForecastEx, which is owned by Interactive Brokers, and Rotera, a Commodity Futures Trading Commission-licensed exchange. The company told the Journal it plans to continue working with multiple exchanges to offer customers diverse and reliable markets.

The talks surfaced less than two months after Robinhood began offering event contracts tied to the World Cup and Major League Baseball through Rotera in May. More than 16 billion event contracts have already been traded on Robinhood this year, surpassing last year's full-year volume of 12 billion.

Kalshi still provides event contracts to Robinhood, but the rivalry between the two companies is becoming more pronounced. Kalshi Chief Executive Officer Tarek Mansour told the Journal in June that he views Robinhood as a major competitor.

Crypto.com launched OG, a standalone prediction-market platform targeting the U.S. market, in February. OG is operated by Crypto.com Derivatives North America, a CFTC-registered exchange and clearinghouse. Materials released at the launch showed weekly trading activity in its prediction-market business increased about 40-fold over the previous six months.