Has Polymarket Gone Too Far?

cryptonews.com:

Connor Sephton is a journalist based in London, who also works for Sky News and the BBC as a radio newsreader and online reporter. He has covered crypto since 2018 — reporting from major conferences...

Elena is the Features Lead at Cryptonews.com. With a Master's degree in science journalism from City University, London, she is passionate about exploring complex topics in the world of technology.

Having a flutter on who will win the US presidential election is pretty harmless — and political bets have quickly become Polymarket’s bread and butter.

There are many other topics where users can put their money where their mouths are too, from who will win the Ballon d’Or to the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates next month.

But as demand for crypto-powered prediction markets continues to rise, an uncomfortable question has started to emerge: should certain issues be off limits?

This moral quandary was raised by @legendarygainz_ on X, who shared a screenshot showing a full page of wagers related to the worsening conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

It feels wrong that Polymarket has an entire Hezbollah betting section that makes a war look like a football game to bet on. pic.twitter.com/zrcSYnJmyr

Legendary’s argument basically boiled down to this: it’s slightly uncomfortable to see this war treated as entertainment — and especially distasteful for bettors to profit off the misery of others by accurately predicting what comes next.

A cursory glance at the Middle East section of Polymarket illustrates the problem, with hundreds of thousands of dollars gambled on how Israel may retaliate after Iran fired an estimated 200 missiles toward the country last week.

At the time of writing, there’s said to be a 48% chance that the