Business and Finance
The 2024 presidential election raised billions of dollars
Billions of dollars have been paid out from people around the globe on voter betting sites equivalent to Polymarket, hoping they will money in on the following US presidentreports.
Platforms equivalent to Polymarket, which should not open to upside from the US, have recorded over $3.6 billion in bets on the 2024 presidential election, with $1.5 billion placed on current President-elect Donald Trump and 1 $1 billion for Vice President Kamala Harris. Bets on election leads to swing states have popped up, raising greater than $270 million on Polymarket and greater than $120 million on legal sports betting platform Kalshi, one other sports betting app.
The highest betting volume was recorded in Pennsylvania, raising $47 million across each platforms. Michigan and Georgia were in second place, and the remaining states were in the highest fifteen states with high trade volume. Swing stock betting on each Polymarket and Kalshi accounted for nearly half of the full stock trading volume. Experts equivalent to Dartmouth University economics professor Eric Zitzewitz should not surprised by the bet on swing states because voters consider them a very powerful within the election. “There’s not quite a bit of interest within the query, ‘Will Republicans win Alabama?’ or “Will Democrats win California?” he said.
“People are kind of interested in the states that will decide the election.”
According to , a bet on Polymarket from a user named “Theo” netted greater than $28 million for Trump to secure the White House for a second term, winning 312 electoral votes to Harris’ 226. The election results helped the user win almost $83.5 million using 11 different accounts on different platforms.
While Polymarket operations were halted within the states by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in 2022, CEO Shayne Coplan said plans have begun to return. But with “Theo,” there was skepticism. France’s gaming regulator has launched an investigation into the compliance of Polymarket’s policies with its regulations.
Zitzewitz believes betting in swing states provided an interesting perspective on the 2024 election cycle because incoming bets gave voters an early idea of which candidate was leading in comparison with traditional polls. “People who trade the markets trying to make money have a very strong incentive to seek out the most up-to-date news so they can catch up with others and thereby make some money,” Zizewitz said.
“As a result, markets tend to move immediately upon receipt of information.”
People are closely watching the election results, and the four-time indicted businessman has begun to fill his cabinet with allies. Trump also secured the general popular vote, unlike what he did in 2016 against former first lady Hilary Clinton, despite winning more electoral votes.