From the New York Times, I'm Natalie Ketrow-F.

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 Bellany 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.

Thanks so much for having me.

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?

That sounds about right.

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? At a really high level, a prediction market is a platform where you can bet on pretty

much everything. Most people are familiar with sports betting, even the sort of advanced

...