Polymarket, the popular crypto-based prediction market, is facing fresh controversy for allowing bettors to try and make money by correctly anticipating the course of the deadly Los Angeles wildfires.
A betting market on how many acres the Palisades fire would burn by Friday had attracted more than $270,000 in trading volume after debuting earlier this week. Bettors were anticipating a more than 90% probability that the blaze would reach between 20,000 and 25,000 acres. In other markets, Polymarket users were placing bets on when the Palisades fire would be fully contained, whether it would spread to Santa Monica by Sunday, and whether any arsonists would be arrested.
