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Vitalik Buterin Defends Prediction Markets as Clearer, Calmer Than Social Media

The remarks coincide with reports of Polymarket’s phased U.S. relaunch following its 2022 CFTC settlement.

Overview

  • Posting on Farcaster, the Ethereum co-founder said putting money behind claims enforces accountability and produces probability-like signals missing from social media.
  • He argued that contracts bounded between 0 and 1 curb hype, reflexivity, and pump-and-dump behavior compared with traditional equity markets.
  • He acknowledged theoretical incentives for harm and opposed so-called assassination markets, while contending small event markets lack the scale to motivate interference.
  • He said checking Polymarket odds has helped temper his reactions to alarming headlines by showing lower probabilities for extreme outcomes.
  • His comments land as Polymarket begins a phased U.S. rollout after paying a $1.4 million CFTC penalty in 2022, with growing investor interest and continuing legal scrutiny of prediction platforms.