Crypto

Robinhood eyes Crypto.com deal as prediction market race heats up



Robinhood is reportedly holding talks with Crypto.com about adding the exchange’s event contracts to its prediction markets hub.

Summary

  • Robinhood reportedly wants Crypto.com contracts to broaden its prediction market exchange network and product range.
  • Any agreement could deepen Robinhood’s competition with Kalshi while reducing reliance on a single provider.
  • Federal and state regulators remain divided over who controls sports-linked event contracts across the U.S.

The proposed arrangement would let Robinhood users trade yes-or-no contracts supplied by Crypto.com, according to people familiar with the discussions cited by The Wall Street Journal. Neither company has announced an agreement, and the report said the talks may not result in a completed deal.

https://x.com/WSJmarkets/status/2080785057954902434?s=20

The discussions come as Robinhood builds a wider network of exchanges rather than relying on one source of event contracts. A company spokesperson said Robinhood “will continue to partner with multiple exchanges” to give customers a broad and reliable market. The strategy could add Crypto.com alongside Kalshi, ForecastEx and Rothera, the exchange created through Robinhood’s venture with Susquehanna International Group.

Robinhood seeks more prediction market suppliers

Robinhood launched its prediction markets hub in March 2025 with contracts routed through Kalshi, a Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated exchange. Its products cover outcomes tied to sports, politics, economics and other public events. Robinhood later added ForecastEx and began routing contracts through Rothera in June 2026.

Rothera gives Robinhood a closer link to the exchange layer because Robinhood owns the venture with Susquehanna. The company said in June that the new route lowered customer trading costs. Adding Crypto.com would create another source of contracts and could help Robinhood maintain product availability when one exchange lacks a market or faces a service issue.

Crypto.com expands event contract distribution

Crypto.com already offers prediction trading through Crypto.com Derivatives North America, a CFTC-regulated exchange and clearinghouse. Its contracts use a simple yes-or-no format based on future events. The company also launched OG Prediction Markets as a separate platform in February 2026 and has expanded distribution through partners.

In June, FanDuel Predicts expanded its offering with sports, entertainment and combination contracts supplied through Crypto.com and OG Prediction Markets. Crypto.com has also announced a planned prediction-market integration with Truth Social, although The Wall Street Journal reported that the product had not launched by July 24. A Robinhood deal would place its contracts before another large retail trading audience.

Kalshi rivalry grows as revenue forecasts rise

Robinhood and Kalshi started as distribution partners, but their businesses now overlap more directly. Kalshi has expanded beyond standard event contracts, while Robinhood has built Rothera and added more exchange partners. Kalshi chief executive Tarek Mansour described Robinhood as both a partner and a competitor, adding, “We’ll see who ends up with a better product.”

The reported Crypto.com talks arrived after Bernstein raised its Robinhood share-price target to $160 from $130. The firm estimated that Robinhood’s prediction-market revenue could reach about $1.7 billion by 2028. As crypto.news previously reported, Bernstein also forecast $586 million in Robinhood prediction-market revenue for 2026, supported by higher World Cup activity and Rothera volumes.

Bernstein expects total prediction-market trading volume to grow from about $51 billion in 2025 to $1 trillion by 2030. The projection assumes wider distribution, more institutional use and clearer rules. Sports contracts currently generate much of the activity, but analysts expect economic, political and business contracts to form a larger share over time.

State and federal regulators remain divided

Robinhood’s possible expansion comes during a legal fight over who can regulate event contracts. The CFTC says federal law gives it exclusive authority over commodity derivatives traded on registered exchanges. In 2026, the agency sued several states after officials moved against prediction-market operators.

States argue that some sports-related contracts function like gambling and should follow local licensing, age and consumer-protection rules. Wisconsin’s actions included complaints against Crypto.com and Robinhood, along with Kalshi, Polymarket and Coinbase.the CFTC responded by seeking to block the state’s enforcement and preserve federal oversight.

The conflict has produced different rulings and restrictions across the country. New York sued Coinbase and Gemini over claims that their event-contract products violated state gambling rules. The CFTC later filed its own case against New York and maintained that federal law takes priority.

Any Robinhood-Crypto.com arrangement would still depend on contract availability, regulatory status and the final terms between the companies. Robinhood has not confirmed that Crypto.com contracts will appear in its app. For now, the talks show that the company is considering another supplier as competition grows among exchanges, brokers and crypto platforms seeking a larger share of event trading.



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