Mark Zuckerberg makes a move on a new billion-dollar market

The New York Times reported connected June 23 that Zuckerberg directed a tiny squad astatine Meta to physique a caller smartphone app focused connected prediction markets.

CNBC confirmed the communicative with a root acquainted with the company's plans. Shares of respective companies successful the betting and trading abstraction dropped wrong hours. Meta declined to comment.

What Arena is and wherefore the no-cash attack matters

The app is called Arena internally. It would tally separately from Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger alternatively than arsenic a diagnostic wrong immoderate of them.

Two employees acquainted with the task told the Times it is simply a apical precedence for Zuckerberg, adjacent though insiders besides described it arsenic experimental and acknowledged it whitethorn ne'er beryllium released publicly.

Arena would fto users forecast the outcomes of events utilizing a video game-style points strategy alternatively than existent money. That includes elections, sports, economical data, and entertainment.

The plan keeps Arena extracurricular the CFTC's oversight model for real-money prediction markets, astatine slightest for now. Zuckerberg has not closed the doorway connected adding currency wagering eventually, according to the Times.

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The maturation program is simple. Meta's apps collectively scope 3.56 cardinal radical each day. Prediction markets person ever had a ceiling connected however galore users they tin organically attract. Routing adjacent a fraction of Meta's assemblage toward Arena removes that ceiling entirely.

Why DraftKings, Flutter, and Robinhood shares fell connected the news

DraftKings fell much than 2% aft the report, finishing the time down 2%. Flutter Entertainment, which owns FanDuel, dropped astir 2% earlier recovering to adjacent up 0.4%. Robinhood slid arsenic well. The absorption makes sense. Prediction marketplace companies person spent years gathering audiences from scratch. Meta tin skip that part.

The assemblage they are trying to support has been increasing fast. Combined trading measurement connected Kalshi and Polymarket reached $50 cardinal successful 2025 and logged much than $130 cardinal successful 2026, The Next Web noted. Investment steadfast Bernstein estimates the class could scope $1 trillion successful yearly measurement by 2030.