TLDR
- CEO Vlad Tenev says crypto event contracts are taking a growing share of Robinhood’s prediction markets
- He expects crypto contracts to outpace sports bets within a few years
- Event-contract revenue jumped more than tenfold year over year to $156 million in the second quarter of 2026
- Contracts traded 4.7 billion times in August 2026, about 15 times the volume from a year earlier
- Robinhood took minority stakes in Crypto.com and its spinoff OG.com this month
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev says crypto contracts are becoming a bigger part of the company’s prediction markets business than sports betting.
He made the comments during an interview with Jim Cramer on CNBC’s “Mad Money.”
Tenev said crypto categories are already grabbing an outsized share of trading activity on Robinhood’s platform. He expects sports wagers to become the smaller category within a few years.
“We’re already seeing other categories like crypto taking a disproportionate share,” Tenev said. “I think within a few years, sports will actually be in the minority.”
Prediction markets, also called event contracts, let people trade on whether something will happen. Examples include a Federal Reserve rate decision, an election outcome, or a sports result.
These trades are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as derivatives. That is different from traditional sports betting, which is regulated at the state level.
Tenev called sports contracts a “wedge” that helped launch the business. He said sports brought in early users and liquidity, but the category is now expanding into other areas.
Event Contract Revenue Surges
Robinhood’s event-contract revenue reached $156 million in the second quarter of 2026. That is more than ten times higher than the same period last year.
Prediction markets are now the fastest-growing part of Robinhood’s business. Crypto trading revenue, by comparison, actually declined during the same stretch.
Contract volume also grew fast. Traders placed 4.7 billion contract trades in August 2026 alone, about 15 times the volume from August 2025.
Robinhood Expands Its Partnerships
Robinhood built its event-contract business on top of Kalshi, an exchange that won a legal fight with the CFTC over election-related contracts.
The company also launched Rothera, a CFTC-licensed joint venture with trading firm Susquehanna. Rothera was tested during this year’s World Cup.
This month, Robinhood took minority equity stakes in Crypto.com and its prediction-market spinoff OG.com. The move adds a third partner to help clear and settle trades.
Other firms are entering the same space. CME, Coinbase, and several decentralized platforms are building out their own event-contract offerings.
Tenev described the strategy as part of a broader push toward financial ownership. He said giving more people access to trading and investing creates a more stable society.
He pointed to the Clarity Act, a bill in Congress about crypto market rules, as an example of the kind of topic people can now trade on. “If you have a particular view on crypto market structure legislation, the Clarity Act, we have a market on that,” he said.
Not all lawmakers support the trend. More than 10 bills have been introduced since January targeting prediction markets, including the PREDICT Act, which would bar members of Congress and senior officials from trading on political event contracts.
Critics argue that placing sports and political wagers next to retirement accounts creates confusion between investing and gambling. That debate remains unresolved in Washington.
Tenev’s own prediction is specific. He expects sports contracts to become the minority share of Robinhood’s event-contract business within, in his words, “a few years.”
