Robinhood Introduces Event-Specific Trading Contracts for Presidential Election Outcomes

Robinhood's New Offering

Digital trading platform Robinhood will allow customers to place bets on the outcome of the presidential race through event-specific trading contracts. The new product will let customers pick contracts associated with victories for either Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump. Customers will be able to trade based on their prediction for who will win the 2024 presidential election.

Details of the Trading Contracts

There will be two contracts to choose from—one for Kamala Harris and one for Donald Trump, according to a Monday news release from the company. Shares of Robinhood increased over 3 percent during the Monday trading session, reaching $27.95 by 2:13 PM.

• The new trading contracts are derivatives offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC.
• Derivatives are investments based on the value of an underlying asset—in this case, contracts linked to election wins.
• Robinhood plans to democratize access to real-time decision-making through these event contracts.

Legal Landscape and Market Interest

A recent court ruling allowed betting on elections via derivatives, impacting regulatory bodies such as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The federal decision, affirmed in October, opens the door for increased engagement in political betting.

Retail betting is on the rise, with Americans wagering $119.84 billion on sports in 2023, a 27.5 percent increase from the previous year, according to the American Gaming Association.