America is slow-walking into a Polymarket disaster

Re:America is slow-walking into a Polymarket disaster by kajaktum on Sunday January 18, 2026 @08:04PM (#46673889)

> I'm trying to understand what the criticism is here, because the example seems to support the point that these are meant to be a way of learning the future, not oppose it. I thought the whole point was that yes, people with inside knowledge will bet large sums of money on things they expect to happen, and that's what makes the prediction useful. The market is meant to incentivize people who know things to act on them in a way that makes them known.

Except the paragraph you quoted nullify this benefit

> The suspiciously well-timed bets that one Polymarket user placed right before the capture of Nicolás Maduro

So we learnt nothing. For the entire duration the stock is online, its pretty much 50/50 then suddenly 1 day before, the ticker spikes to yes.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:America is slow-walking into a Polymarket disaster by smeej on Monday January 19, 2026 @12:04PM (#46681465)

Yes, but it spikes BEFORE the attack begins, which means we learnt someone thought there was a string reason to believe things were about to change earlier than we otherwise would have.

That's the whole point, isn't it?

And if you're going to tell me the paragraph I quoted nullifies what I've said, would you please explain how? Obviously I don't currently understand it the same way you do, and I have asked for help understanding what I'm missing. Saying, "You're missing it," isn't helpful.

[ Parent | on HN ]