Aisha Roscoe

So why are they everywhere all of a sudden?

So, Bobby, I mean, to me, this looks a lot like gambling.

You have markets on who's going to win Best Picture at the Oscars and who will win the NBA championship.

But these apps make the argument that this isn't gambling.

How do they make that argument and what are they saying?

OK, so then how are they regulated?

You mentioned the the CFTC, the Commodities Future Trading Commission, which I used to cover back in the day, but will make your eyes.

Yeah, I mean, but it will make your eyes glaze over really, really fast.

So how are they regulating this?

Or it sounds like maybe they're not regulating these apps very much at all.

You mentioned earlier that some states have filed lawsuits against these betting sites, these prediction apps, and saying that they're basically just gambling.

Tell me more about that.

Like, where do those lawsuits stand?

And what can states do if they want to step in and they want to do more regulation of this?

Well, you know, you have made some trades on these platforms and you kind of have a sense of what the experience is like.

If you were going to place a bet on the future of prediction markets, what would be your bet?

Well, Bobby, this has been quite the ride and it's just beginning.

I'm going to keep an eye out on this, but I will be looking at how this all plays out.

Thank you so much for sharing all this reporting today.

That was NPR correspondent Bobby Allen.