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Robinhood is betting that its customers want to trade on absolutely everything. On Tuesday, the popular stock-trading app unveiled a slate of updates to its prediction markets business, aggressively expanding into sports. Now, Robinhood users can trade contracts tied to specific professional football players’ performances, as well as prepackaged combos for individual games. Early next year, customers will be able to combine up to 10 outcomessuch as winners, spreads, and totalsinto a single, custom-built contract. Robinhood’s news site, Sherwood, is also launching a new sports newsletter, Scoreboard. Eventually, Robinhood plans to launch contracts that span not just multiple games, but multiple categoriesfrom sports to climate to politics. “If customers say they’re looking to trade a specific category or specific event, we’re all ears,” Adam Hickerson, Robinhood’s senior director of futures and prediction markets, tells Fast Company. Robinhood’s entrance into prediction markets can be seen as a natural culmination of the trajectory it set into motion years ago. For the uninitiated, prediction markets allow people to trade on real-world events by buying and selling contracts. These events can range from sports matches to political elections to who Time magazine will name as its Person of the Year. Since Robinhood launched prediction markets in late 2024, they’ve become the companys fastest-growing line of business. In the third quarter this year, it reported that users traded 2.3 billion prediction-markets contracts. Then, in October alone, that figure reached 2.5 billion. The most popular contracts have been in sports. Robinhood maintains that users are not gambling, as trading on the market sets the odds, not the platform itself. Still, the sports contracts tap into an enthusiasm for sports speculation. According to the Pew Research Center, 22% of adults in the U.S. have bet money on sports in the past year. Among men younger than 30, that figure rises to 36%. Robinhood isn’t the only app getting in the game: Fanatics, a global sports platform, just launched a prediction-market app, becoming the first sportsbook to do so.Some regulators believe decision markets cross the line into gambling. Numerous states have sent Robinhood cease-and-desist letters, demanding prediction markets stop offering sports contracts. In response, Robinhood sued New Jersey and Nevada earlier this year, maintaining that its markets are completely legal. There is no sign of regulatory turmoil dampening Robinhood’s ambition. In November, the company announced plans to start its own prediction market, launching an exchange with Susquehanna International Group. “This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Hickerson says. From meme stocks to prediction markets In 2013, Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhatt founded Robinhood as an easy, commission-free way for users to trade on their phones. Business boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic as bored Americans, flush with stimulus checks, flocked to the app. The online brokerage became known for its popularity among young adrenaline junkies who treated investing less like retirement planning and more like a mobile game. Robinhood’s supporters applauded the company for democratizing finance. Critics, meanwhile, slammed it for encouraging users to trade stocks like gamblers betting on sports. In 2021, legendary investor Charlie Munger told CNBC that Robinhood was “a gambling parlor masquerading as a respectable business,” calling it a “sleazy, disreputable operation.” The anti-Robinhood backlash boiled over during the GameStop saga, when users fueled a trading frenzy that drove meme stocks to absurd highs. In the aftermath, Robinhood dialed back on its so-called gamified elements, removing a confetti animation that accompanied certain achievements. In a February 2021 hearing before Congress, Tenev testified that the “vast majority” of Robinhood’s customers were long-term investors, not day traders buying meme stocks. Eventually, however, Robinhood acknowledged the importance of its active day tradersusers less interested in traditional stocks and far more interested in riskier products like cryptocurrencies. These are our most engaged customers that generate the lions share of our revenue, Tenev told The Wall Street Journal in November. We put our best people on active traders. Robinhood keeps these valuable customers happy by letting them invest in whatever their hearts desire. Increasingly, that means prediction markets. Betting on predictions Prediction markets have been around for more than a century. They have primarily existed as a niche curiosity, not a major focus for investors, amateur or professional. Then came last years election. More than $3.3 billion was traded in 2024 presidential election contracts, mostly on prediction market Polymarket. Robinhood launched its own contracts a month before the election, its first foray into the prediction markets. By the time Trump wonas forecast by the marketsthe concept of prediction markets had cemented itself in the American mainstream. At the time, it was not legal for Americans to use Polymarket. As a result, it operated offshore, although Americans likely still used it via VPNs and thanks to Polymarket’s reliance on cryptocurrency. Reports alleged that much of the election-trading volume came from “wash trading,” which inflates market activity and is a form of market manipulation. In January, Kalshi launched “100% legal” sports trading in all 50 states, regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The next month, Robinhood announced a partnership with Kalshi for Super Bowl contracts. But mere hours after the announcement, Robinhood canceled the contracts at the request of the CFTC. The agency had serious concerns that the contracts may not be permissible under the law, a CFTC representative said at the time. Robinhood was undeterred. In March, just ahead of the NCAA basketball tournament, the company launched its prediction markets hub, still in partnership with Kalshi. A CFTC official told Sportico that the agency had no legal justification to prevent Robinhood from offering access to these contracts.”Robinhood is competing not only with Polymarket and Kalshi but also with Coinbase, which is reportedly planning to introduce prediction markets, thanks to its own partnership with Kalshi. Defining “gambling” Laws on gamblingand how regulators interpret those lawsare set to be one of Robinhood’s biggest obstacles when it comes to decision markets. Kalshi and Robinhood maintain that their users are trading, not gambling. Kalshi and Robinhood do not make money based on outcomes, but instead earn revenue via transaction fees. They emphasize that, unlike sportsbooks, prediction markets do not take bets or set odds. For example, if the New England Patriots are playing the Tennessee Titans, a user who thinks the Titans will win could buy shares on the “yes” position. Shares will be less expensive if Tennessee is the underdog, but the price is set by the markets’ perceived probability. If the Titans win, each winning share pays out $1, while those who picked the Patriots are left empty-handed. If regulators agree with decision markets’ line of reasoning, companies like Robinhood and Kalshi should be able to offer sports contracts online in all 50 states, including states where sports betting is illegal or restricted. Gambling is banned for people under 21, but 18-year-olds are typically allowed to trade event contracts. Many sports-betting regulationssuch as safeguards to prevent game fixingdo not currently apply to prediction markets. Not every regulator is convinced by decision markets’ arguments. In addition to New Jersey and Nevada, Connecticut, Ohio, Maryland, Illinois, and Arizona have sent Robinhood and other decision markets cease-and-desist letters. Nonetheless, the decision markets have amassed some powerful allies. In January, Donald Trump Jr. joined Kalshi as a strategic adviser. Polymarket’s return to the U.S. and its legalization came, in part, thanks to the president’s son becoming an investor and adviser. In September, President Trump nominated Kalshi board member Brian Quintenz to chair the CFTC. A month later, Trump Media announced a prediction market partnership involving Crypto.com and Truth Social. Everything, everywhere, all at once Folding sports contracts, stock trades, online banking, and crypto into a single app will inevitably upset traditionalists. Old-school investors might also be skeptical of Robinhoods other announcements on Tuesday, focused on artificial intelligence: upgrades to its AI-powered investing assistant and the launch of personalized daily Digests that analyze users’ portfolios. For Robinhood, the grab bag of choices is the point. “Everything comes down to: What does the customer want?” Hickerson says. Robinhood takes feedback seriously, he said, and executives have heard “loud and clear that these are some features that they really want to trade on.” Scrolling through the contracts on any prediction market reveals just how many topics inspire speculation. As of Monday, more than $17,000 in contracts had been traded on Kalshi related to the topic: “What will Vlad Tenev say during the Robinhood keynote?” (Trading activity indicates a 72% chance that Tenev says “sport.”) “Ultimately,” says Oren Naim, Robinhood’s vice president of platforms, “our long-term vision for the company is to become your one-stop shop for anythingany financial needacross the board.”
Category:
E-Commerce
Suzanna’s Kitchen, a Georgia-based food production company, has issued a recall of 62,550 pounds of fully cooked, bone-in breaded chicken products. The chicken, which was distributed nationwide, was recalled over mislabeling. While the product was labeled with a product code that classifies it as non-allergen-containing, the product contains soy. According to the recall notice, which was issued on December 12, the affected product is the eight-piece cut, bone-in breaded chicken portions that were produced on October 16, 2025. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) mark of inspection and establishment number printed on the side of the package is P-1380. According to the USDA, soy is one of the “big nine” allergens and could result in serious allergic reactions. “Symptoms of food allergies typically appear within minutes or up to two hours after a person has eaten or has come into contact with the food to which they are allergic,” the department’s website explains. It also notes that common signs of an allergic reaction include hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of the tongue, lips, face, throat, and vocal chords; a drop in blood pressure, and more. It’s unlikely that the products will be found in home refrigerators, as it was distributed to restaurants across the country. However, restaurant-goers with soy allergies should be aware of the heightened concern. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) says restaurants should carefully check their stock. FSIS is concerned that some products may be in restaurant refrigerators or freezers. Restaurants are urged not to serve this product; these items should be thrown away, the recall notice states. The notice also said there have been no confirmed illnesses due to the affected products, but that consumers concerned about a potential illness should contact their healthcare provider immediately. Otherwise, questions about the recall can be directed to Dawn Duncan, Customer Service Director, Suzannas Kitchen, at dduncan@suzannaskitchen.com, the notice states. The USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hotline is also available for questions at 888-674-6854.
Category:
E-Commerce
The latest employment numbers have droppedand the job market still looks tough for workers. Todays jobs report shares data from November, which was delayed due to the government shutdown that lifted last month. As jobs growth has slowed in recent months, the unemployment rate has climbed to 4.6%, up from 4.4% in September and the highest it has been in four years. Employers added only 64,000 jobs in November, and the market also shed 105,000 jobs the month prior. Wage growth has stagnated to a degree that hasnt been seen since 2021. The jobs report seems to confirm what many workers are likely encountering as they try to navigate the current job market: Employers are simply not hiring at the same rate, due to economic uncertainty and the Trump administrations crackdown on immigration. The current climate has been described by experts as low hire, low fire, which means the workers who do lose their jobs are struggling to find new employment. The share of Americans who have been out of work for over six months has jumped to 1.9 million, when it was 1.7 million a year ago. Thats not great news for people affected by the layoffs sweeping through companies like UPS and Amazon, which had raised alarm bells about the broader labor market. On the whole, however, the jobs report indicates employers are not cutting jobs at a concerning rate: Initial claims for unemployment insurance are still relatively low, which is usually a measure of whether layoffs are roiling the economy; (The job losses from October also reflect the exit of over 150,000 federal workers who had accepted deferred resignation offers and are no longer on the payroll.) The rising unemployment rate seems to be fueled by the hiring slowdownwhich has left workers who are laid off with fewer job opportunities. At the same time, however, economists say that a decline in immigration has kept the unemployment rate lower than it should be, since there are fewer people entering the labor force. That might explain why the unemployment rate isnt even higher, given the hiring outlook, though Black workers are also seeing a significant spike in unemploymenta sign that the labor market might be weakening. Its a confusing picture for people who are seeking new jobs or entering the workforce. The jobs report tells us that the labor market has, in fact, cooled, but perhaps not to the extent that you might expect amid recurring reports of layoffs. There are a number of other factors that workers are up against: Artificial intelligence is fueling fluctuations in the workforce, with some employers citing the technology as they issue layoffs, though that might not be the true reason for shedding workers. Still, there dont seem to be clear recession indicatorsat least for now. There might even be a glimmer of hope for workers in the job growth figures from November: While the gains were modest, it looks like private employers may be slowly starting to hire more, particularly in the healthcare sector.
Category:
E-Commerce
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