Natalie Kietroweth

From The New York Times, I'm Natalie Ketro-Eff.

This is The Daily.

Seemingly overnight, America has seen an explosion of new betting platforms that have radically expanded the universe of gambling.

They're called prediction markets.

They let you bet on all kinds of things, like will the U.S.

attack Iran?

What specific words will the president say?

And who will be at Taylor Swift's wedding?

Today, my colleague David Yaffe-Bellini explains how these platforms became so widespread so fast, and how betting on everything could change the way we live.

It's Wednesday, February 4th.

David, it's wonderful to have you here in studio.

So we are coming to you because you cover crypto, which can often lead you to the nichest corners of the internet.

I kind of think of you as having a fringe capitalism beat.

Is that fair?

Okay.

And you've been looking into these prediction markets, which I have a million questions about.

But before we get into those questions, I want you to first just lay out for people who don't know these things, what are they?

What are these markets?

The idea is betting on everything, everywhere, all at once.

Right, and it does feel that this stuff has kind of come out of nowhere.