Prediction market addiction fears are rising as college-age adults use platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket to trade on sports, politics and news events, experts told CNN.
The sites offer event contracts and operate under the oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
That structure lets users aged 18 and older trade, even though most states restrict sports betting to people 21 and older.
CNN cited an 18-year-old Kalshi user who turned a credit-card cash advance into winnings, then lost the money within hours. He later called the national gambling hotline.
Kalshi spokeswoman Elisabeth Diana told CNN the user’s withdrawal error came from a bank fraud alert. She said the company would keep evaluating user protections.
Read: Prediction Market Trades Face Insider Scrutiny
Addiction specialists warned that younger users face a higher risk. Philip Sullivan of the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling said some under-21 users had relapsed after using prediction sites.
The NBA and PGA Tour urged the CFTC to raise the minimum age for sports-related event contracts to 21. Fanatics has already launched a 21-plus prediction platform.
