Cash News
Tech billionaire Elon Musk posted on his social media platform X, stating that he favored the cryptocurrency-based prediction platform Polymarket as better suited to project the next U.S. presidential contest than traditional polling methods.
Musk noted that prediction markets, where people have skin in the game, may provide a more accurate forecast of events than traditional polls.
Musk’s endorsement comes as he continues to align himself with the former president’s campaign; he spoke in support of Trump last month at a Trump campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“Trump now leading Kamala by 3% in betting markets. More accurate than polls, as actual money is on the line,” Musk said in an October 6 tweet, citing data from Polymarket, which put Trump ahead of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.
Polymarket is a decentralized, peer-to-peer predictions marketplace where individuals stake USDC into the outcome of events.
For the current presidential election cycle, the decentralized application experienced unprecedented trading volumes and attention, with some analysts going so far as to suggest that such prediction markets serve as a valuable public resource.
Despite Musk’s endorsement, many questions remain about just how good platforms like Polymarket will really prove to be at predicting political outcomes. Critics argue that financial speculation is not the same thing as political will, with voters perhaps betting on candidates they do not necessarily intend to support.