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You can now bet on the presidential election

You can now bet on the presidential election

The Robinhood trading app is the latest platform that allows traders to also bet on elections. The move comes after a recent court ruling legalizing betting on US elections.

Starting Monday, eligible users will be able to trade contracts for Kamala Harris or Donald Trump events.

An event contract is an agreement about the likelihood that an event will have a certain outcome, such as a sports game or, in this case, a presidential election.

You put a monetary value on the outcome before it happens, the value of any outcome fluctuates depending on market sentiment, and you get paid from the contract if it works and if it doesn’t, it’s worth zero dollars. It’s the same as investing in the victory of one side or another.

Robinhood believes this is an opportunity for investors to become more involved in elections, saying in a statement: “We believe event contracts give people a tool to make decisions in real time.”

Earlier this month, a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling cleared the way for election betting. He rescinded an executive order that prohibited startups from betting on which political party would ultimately control the House and Senate after the election.

Critics said the decision would create incentives for election interference and could open the door to problems as the Nov. 5 deadline approaches.

One such critic is Senator Jeff Merkley, who opposed betting on the September election.

“You want people to bet on the outcome of an election and spend huge sums of money to smear a candidate they want to lose, turning the election from a vision of moving our country forward into a mere gaming exercise to enrich those who can’t make it?” only huge bets, but they can affect the outcome of these bets. Absolutely not, which is why the law was written this way,” Merkley said.

However, Wall Street seems to like the idea. Robin Hood shares rose 3% after the announcement was made.

Robin Hood says it will provide these contracts to a limited number of clients – they must be US citizens.

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