We hate to say it, but all of those “crazy” sports fans complaining about the games being rigged might not have been so crazy after all.
What happened: Prosecutors in the U.S. charged 20 people yesterday in connection with a game-fixing conspiracy, including a group of college basketball players who allegedly took bribes of up to US$30,000 per game to manipulate their performance on behalf of bettors.
The illegal betting ring, allegedly run by the same individuals connected to the recent NBA point-shaving scandal, included 39 NCAA basketball players on over 17 teams.
Why it matters: The integrity of sporting events has been undermined by the expansion of legal betting and the manipulation of games that has followed in its wake. But with the emergence of prediction markets, this type of fraud is also starting to affect everything from award show red carpets to geopolitical conflicts.
Just hours before the U.S. captured Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro, an anonymous Polymarket account conveniently placed a large wager that he would be ousted before Jan. 31, pocketing over $400,000 on the bet.
Coinbase’s CEO, who caught wind that there was $84,000 riding on the specific words he would say during an earnings call, decided to have some fun and rattled off a full list of terms that Polymarket and Kalshi users had wagered on.
Our take: The world has turned into one big, easily manipulated casino. Until sports betting and prediction markets are properly regulated (if that’s even possible), these cases of insider trading and fraud will only become more common.—LA