Coinbase is gearing up to unveil an internal prediction market, according to sources familiar with the situation. This initiative, developed in collaboration with Kalsi, seems to be part of a broader strategy to diversify the asset classes available on cryptocurrency exchanges as some investors are becoming more cautious about digital assets.
The formal announcement regarding the prediction markets is expected soon, possibly as early as next week.
Speculation about this prediction market has been circulating for almost a month. A leaked screenshot of Coinbase’s prediction market dashboard, shared by researcher Jane Manchun Wong, has contributed to the buzz. An article from mid-November also hinted at this new product.
Another report surfaced on November 19, indicating that Coinbase is ready to launch a prediction market powered by Kalshi, with a product reveal at its upcoming “Coinbase System Update” event, scheduled for December 17. Bloomberg echoed these claims, stating that Coinbase will also introduce a tokenized stock offering at the same event.
While Coinbase did not confirm these details, they mentioned they are paying attention to the developments planned for next week. They didn’t provide specifics on when the prediction market will be accessible to users.
This upcoming launch underscores Coinbase’s ambition to reinvent itself as an “Everything Exchange.” This concept aims to be a comprehensive trading platform for various assets—ranging from crypto tokens and tokenized stocks to event contracts. CEO Brian Armstrong outlined this vision to investors back in May, expressing a goal to become the leading financial services application within a decade.
In this context, the competition is heating up. Other trading platforms like Robinhood, Gemini, and Kraken have started offering tokenized stocks to international users in the past year. They’ve also begun exploring prediction markets to various extents.
Coinbase’s effort to broaden its range of products arrives amid waning investor enthusiasm for digital assets. Recently, a series of liquidations in the highly leveraged digital asset market led to significant sell-offs in mid-October, pushing investors to seek refuge in gold and other stable assets.
As of early December, Bitcoin had dipped to around $85,000, the lowest it had been since March of the previous year. Its trading price was noted at $89,951, representing a 23% decline over the last three months. During the same period, Coinbase’s stock dropped by over 16%.
This partnership also reflects Kalsi’s ongoing strategy to broaden its influence in the prediction market arena amidst growing competition. Earlier this year, Kalsi integrated aspects of its prediction markets into Robinhood as part of a non-exclusive collaboration. Sources indicate that Kalsi is currently negotiating with other significant brokerages, including within the cryptocurrency sector, aiming for more partnerships similar to the one with Coinbase.
