Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is reportedly creating a prediction markets product as a “top priority”.
As per the New York Times, Meta has set about building a standalone app dubbed ‘Arena’ to offer event contracts.
Initially, the product would not involve real-money trades and instead involve a “a video-game-like points system instead”, the newspaper reported, though money could possibly be used in the future.
Meta, which has a market cap of $1.4trn (£1.1trn), has ploughed billions of dollars into investments into AI, wearable tech and VR, as well as its failed bet on the Metaverse.
As of Q1, Meta reported there were 3.6 billion daily active users across its portfolio of apps globally.
Meta, which is owned by billionaire Mark Zuckerberg and based in Silicon Valley, California, previously dipped its toe into prediction markets back in 2020 with its Forecast product.
The app, which was launched by the tech giant’s internal R&D group, New Product Experimentation Team, allowed users to ask questions and earn in-app points.
The release of Forecast came during the Covid-19 pandemic in June 2020 and allowed users to make predictions and discuss potential outcomes.
Forecast had a leaderboard based on correct predictions, with the app essentially encouraging community discussion and pushback on false information.
In 2020, project lead Rebecca Kossnick wrote: “Beyond the participating community, we think the forecasts, debate and analysis in the app could also be valuable to a broader audience.
“This could be useful both as a novel aggregator of interesting news, opinions and predictions, and as a dataset to help people understand how collective understanding of an event has changed over time.”
The app was shuttered in October 2021.
A statement at the time read: “Forecast began as an experimental app to help us understand how crowdsourced wisdom can arrive at truth. We’ve learned so much with and from you, and will be sunsetting Forecast on 15 October 2021.”
The two leading US online sports betting companies, FanDuel and DraftKings, have seen their share prices slump under pressure from prediction markets, namely Kalshi, Robinhood and Polymarket.
DraftKings stock slid is down by more than a quarter this year to around $25, while Flutter, the parent company of FanDuel, has shed more half its value since the start of 2026, closing out yesterday, 23 June, in New York at just under $98.
FanDuel has launched FanDuel Predicts in partnership with CME Group, while DraftKings has DraftKings Predictions, also with CME Group.
The pair have since joined forces with Crypto.com to offer the Singapore-based exchange’s markets through their respective standalone prediction markets apps.
DraftKings also acquired Railbird, which is licensed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), last year in a bid to ramp up its prediction market capabilities.
Both Flutter and DraftKings have spoken at length about market-making opportunities that could be derived from the prediction markets boom.
Since December 2024, when Crypto.com rolled out its sports event contracts, the sector has grown exponentially.
Kalshi recently closed a Series F funding round valuing the business at $22bn. Polymarket, which runs on the Polygon blockchain outside the US, is worth around $15bn.
Meta’s reported move into the space comes after several non-sports betting businesses have announced plans to roll out prediction markets.
Those include Trump Media and Technology Group and crypto exchange Gemini, which is owned by the Winklevoss twins.
Cboe, which owns the largest US options exchange, also announced on Tuesday it would release a prediction markets product centred around the S&P 500.
Meta stock was down less than 1% to $562.20 at the close of trading. Its shares have fallen nearly 14% so far this year.
The post Report: Meta plans to build prediction markets app first appeared on EGR Intel.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly instructs staff to develop ‘Arena’, though the product is not expected to involve real-money trading at launch
The post Report: Meta plans to build prediction markets app first appeared on EGR Intel.