Interactive Brokers Group Inc. (NASDAQ:IBKR) and Robinhood Markets Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOD) are making opposite bets on the $63 billion prediction market boom—one on utilities and the other on sports.
Peterffy: “We Don’t Rely On Sports”
During Monday’s Q4 earnings call, Peterffy made clear that IBKR isn’t chasing sports betting. The company is targeting temperature contracts that utilities can use to hedge electricity demand.
“Interactive Brokers does not rely on sports,” Peterffy said, adding that institutional clients like utilities will start onboarding “sometime in the course of the year.”
IBKR’s ForecastEx exchange traded 286 million contract pairs in Q4—up from just 15 million in Q3. The platform now lists over 10,000 instruments.
That approach sidesteps the regulatory chaos hitting sports-focused platforms entirely.
The Regulatory Problem: Massachusetts Just Ruled Against Sports
A Massachusetts court ruled earlier this month that Kalshi’s sports contracts are illegal gambling, not regulated derivatives.
Kalshi is the CFTC-regulated exchange that powers prediction markets for both Robinhood …