Betting on elections in the United States has quickly gone from a taboo to a typical day at the office for some Americans.

Robinhood Markets Inc. announced Monday that its popular stock trading app has a new feature: presidential election contracts.

The product, which Robinhood is gradually rolling out to its customer base, will allow users to buy and sell “Yes” contracts for either Democrat Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump for this year’s US presidential election.

Presidential Election Market Update: October 28

Follow the forecasts on Robinhood. pic.twitter.com/i3oNSRb5ex

-Robinhood (@RobinhoodApp) October 28, 2024

Customers can only purchase a “Yes” contract for one of the candidates, not both, at a price ranging from $0 to $1. Similar to other election-related contractsWhen Congress certifies the winner early next year, Robinhood traders still holding a position will receive either a full dollar or nothing, depending on the outcome.

“Our customers have told us that it is essential to have access to the market in real time – which is why, for example, we launched 24/5 trading and recently announced our intention to launch futures trading in the coming months,” Robinhood said in a press release. “We believe event contracts give people a tool to make decisions in real time, paving the way for a new asset class that democratizes access to events as they unfold.”

Robinhood’s entry into de facto election betting offers Americans another way to legally bet on the outcome of the presidential campaign, alongside previous participants such as Kalshi, Interactive Brokers and PredictIt. Regulated sports betting it remains prohibited to offer similar betting markets.

Kalshi arguably paved the way for Robinhood, having successfully fought the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. for the right to propose its contracts linked to the elections. But quickly, the prediction market found itself confronted with new competitors who took advantage of Kalshi’s legal successes to launch competing products.

Buy, sell, bet

This competition also helps make election betting more widespread, equating bets on politics with bets on the rise and fall of stocks and bonds.

As the US elections bet was common on Wall Street and among Main Street Americans, it fell out of favor among regulators and legislators. Suddenly, it’s fashionable again, and legal.

Robinhood became a go-to destination for retail investors during the “meme” stock market frenzy that erupted amid the COVID-19 pandemic. These same traders could now decide to bet more and more on the latest news. The chances of the American elections.

Robinhood telegraphed earlier this month that such a move could come via its derivatives business.

“Now (Robinhood Derivatives LLC) is following up on that announcement with the launch of presidential election contracts, ahead of the November 5 general election,” the company noted Monday.

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