Polymarket recently poured millions of dollars into securing the endorsements of legendary athletes, including LeBron James, Derek Jeter, and Sue Bird, to highlight its sports “prediction market.” The company should have stuck to sports. According to a report from Front Office Sports, the technically-not-a-gambling platform recently took down a market that allowed users to bet on whether or not any of the Cornell University Chi Phi fraternity members accused of rape will be charged with a felony sex crime.
In an archived version of the market, which was only available for users outside of the United States, users were able to select “Yes” or “No” as the outcome to the question, “Any of the Cornell 7 charged with a felony sex crime?” Per Front Office Sports, the market opened on September 30. At the time it was shut down by Polymarket, it had amassed $451,633 in trading volume, with 72% of users betting that the market would resolve to “No.”
Per the market’s rules, it would resolve to “Yes” if “any Federal or State jurisdiction of the United States formally charges or otherwise announces a criminal indictment” of any member of the so-called Cornell Seven, “with a felony sex crime.”
The bet was roundly criticized, particularly by advocacy groups representing victims of sexual assault and violence—but would be reasonably denounced by any person with an ounce of decency. While the company operates on the premise that anything and everything should be “tradeable” (read: something you can gamble on), it has repeatedly pushed the line by creating ripped-from-the-headlines markets that, if you think about it for even a second, grossly devalue human life and promote antisocial behavior.
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