Meta Is Building a Prediction Markets App to Challenge Polymarket and Kalshi

Mark Zuckerberg became a multibillionaire by building Facebook, the platform which more than any other ushered in the age of social media. His wealth has steadily grown since then as he’s tried—with varying degrees of success—to capitalize on one cultural trend after another: the metaverse, AI, and Gen Z haircuts, just to name a few. His latest culture vulture endeavor? A predictions market app, apparently. According to a Tuesday report from the New York Times, Meta is currently developing a smartphone app that would work similarly to apps like Polymarket and Kalshi, through which users can place bets on events as far-flung as the outcome of sporting events, to the fluctuations of the stock market, to the success of overseas military operations. Referred to internally as “Arena,” Zuckerberg’s planned prediction markets app is reportedly being built by a small team within Meta and would operate separately from the company’s other apps, which include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Citing anonymous sources, the Times report also said it was possible the project would be killed before it becomes publicly available. Unlike Polymarket and Kalshi, users of Meta’s app would