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submitted 1 month ago by BrikoX@lemmy.zip to c/globalnews@lemmy.zip

The betting market on war is “worse than insider trading,” one lawmaker said.

Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://truthout.org/articles/polymarket-takes-down-betting-on-nuclear-detonation-after-backlash/


Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.

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[-] BrikoX@lemmy.zip 51 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

These cancer platforms need to be shutdown...

[-] harmbugler@piefed.social 24 points 1 month ago

If you're betting on Polymarket and you're not an insider, you'll lose in the long run.

[-] VaalaVasaVarde@sopuli.xyz 19 points 1 month ago

Good then trump can't use it to bet on himself to press the button.

[-] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 17 points 1 month ago

The betting market on war is just an auction for bombing things.

And it sounds be treated as such.

[-] quick_snail@feddit.nl 9 points 1 month ago

Doesn't game theory suggest you should always bet that we're not going to all die?

[-] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 month ago

It just adds another complexity to the bet that there has to be enough apathy of that happening to an Arab country.

[-] chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 month ago

800k could buy a lot of hard drugs, and those underground bunkers might last a few weeks

[-] micnd90@hexbear.net 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

bean

The human race might end if we had a nuclear war, but at least I made some money

[-] Sanctus@anarchist.nexus 6 points 1 month ago

Yeah something tells me its still going to do immoral shit. Especially the after backlash bit. Thats a problem.

[-] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 month ago

Well now that I can't make money on Polymarket, I have no reason to start a nuclear war anymore. The world is saved.

[-] bestonecrazy@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 month ago

"WE WILL ALL GO TOGETHER WHEN WE GO!" - Tom Lehrer, Satirist and Harvard Mathematician(1928-2025).

[-] Lysergid@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Can someone ELI5 how is it a real problem?

Like, Bezos and other corpos will bet on Polymarket and then ~~bribe~~ lobby Trump to nuke Iran for profit? Is this the plot we are afraid of? If so Polymarket is not the problem here.

Edit: to be clear, Polymarket is cancer, but I’m confused how this particular case different from any other

[-] ParlimentOfDoom@piefed.zip 18 points 1 month ago

There's a reason that betting on the death of people is illegal - it provides a way to finance a hitjob on someone indirectly. In fact, betting against their death provides the funds that would entice someone to take it into their own hands.

This is the same thing but on a much bigger scale.

[-] ToastedRavioli@midwest.social 5 points 1 month ago

For one, its not gambling if there is not an element of chance. Gambling is only the case where people dont know who will win the Super Bowl, or whether or not you will draw a blackjack at the casino, etc.

If people have direct control over the event being bet on, to the extent that it is not affected by any element of chance, then its not gambling. Its just people with control over a given situation rigging a game to take money from other people. If you went to the casino and the roulette dealer could bet on the game and control where the ball landed that wouldnt be gambling. Neither are prediction markets in most cases.

That doesnt even get into the issues with ethics and incentivizing people in control to do terrible things (or otherwise act amorally or irrationally) just to make money in the prediction market

[-] Lysergid@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 month ago

Is this a problem of the game i.e. being able to bet on anything (someone’s decision) or problem of someone having insider knowledge/influence on decision and allowed to play? In your casino example it’s dealer who is banned, not the roulette itself.

For example insider trading is regulated, following Polymarket’s takedown logic we should ban all trading.

In other words, would this bet be a problem if decision makers were banned from betting or profiting on it?

[-] IronBird@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

for example, insider trading is regulated

lol, sure it is. stock market is the biggest casino around, and there are a dozen different ways to extract "liquidity"

just like the stock market, actually enforcing the rules takes a sbmhitload of overhead and with enough influence even those aspects of the casino (SEC/FINRA/Fed) got compromised or neutered in no time at all.

[-] SPRUNT@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Trump is dying to use a nuke, and the only thing he cares about is money. Tie using a nuke to the potential for financial gain in the Trump family and the potential increases drastically. Trump has his dementia, narcissism, and sociopathic behavior on full display, and has zero concern for any long-term effects of his actions. If nuking a country makes his bank account numbers go up, it's definitely being considered.

If the Epstein stuff continues to grow and get worse for him, a nuke is almost guaranteed.

this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2026
163 points (100.0% liked)

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