Robinhood (HOOD) Chairman and CEO Vlad Tenev told CNBC’s Jim Cramer that crypto event-contracts are already grabbing an outsized share of the platform’s prediction markets business, and he expects sports wagers to fall into the minority within just a few years.
Prediction markets have become one of the fastest-growing corners of US trading over the past year, with CME, Kalshi, Coinbase, and decentralized platforms all competing for a share of the event-contract boom. Crypto-linked contracts have grown alongside them, largely outside the sports-betting battles now working through the courts, giving Robinhood’s newest product line room to expand fast.
Why Sports Contracts Are Losing Ground
Speaking on “Mad Money,” Tenev pushed back on the idea that event contracts, yes-or-no trades on the outcome of a future event, are just a rebrand of sports betting.
“We’re already seeing other categories like crypto taking a disproportionate share. And I think within a few years, sports will actually be in the minority.”
Vlad Tenev, CNBC
Sports-linked event contracts have become prediction markets’ most contested corner. New York sued Kalshi in July, seeking more than $36 billion in damages and a nationwide ban on its event contracts, while Baltimore separately sued Kalshi and Polymarket over what the city calls unlicensed sportsbooks.
New York City’s council has also opened its own probe into how Kalshi, Polymarket, Coinbase, and Gemini Titan market prediction contracts to residents.
Crypto-linked event contracts have so far avoided that particular fight, giving the category more room to grow while sports contracts work through the courts.
Robinhood Is Building Beyond Contracts
Tenev’s comments track moves already underway at Robinhood. The company recently formed a joint venture with market maker Susquehanna to acquire crypto exchange MIAXdx, formerly LedgerX, with plans to launch dedicated prediction market infrastructure of its own, according to Front Office Sports.
Robinhood has called prediction markets its fastest-growing revenue line, with roughly nine billion event contracts traded on the platform over the past year.
Tenev frames the strategy as part of a broader “ownership” push he has also used to justify Robinhood’s retirement-account matching and its expansion into tokenized stocks.
Whether crypto contracts overtake sports on his timeline is still unverified, but the buildout suggests Robinhood is positioning itself for that shift rather than betting against it.
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