Prediction markets: are they fuelling insider trading?
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 27 May 2026
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, Michelle, Rahul and Will explore prediction markets — online platforms where people can bet on future events, from elections to pop culture and even world conflicts.
Concerns about insider trading are on the rise and platforms are being banned in an increasing number of countries. So as talk of regulation increases, we try to predict the future of the prediction market.
Presenters: Michelle Fleury, Rahul Tandon and Will Bain
Producer: Rebecca Smyllie
(Photo: Getty/Yuichiro Chino)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.3 | All right, you two. I've got a bit of a quiz for you. |
| 0:09.7 | What links these three things? |
| 0:11.8 | A permanent peace deal between the US and Iran, the date of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey's wedding, |
| 0:17.1 | and the winner of the NBA Basketball Championship. |
| 0:21.4 | I'm hopeless at quizzes. I get everything wrong. I'm going to say, I NBA basketball championship. I'm hopeless acquies. |
| 0:22.5 | I get everything wrong. |
| 0:24.1 | I'm going to hand this over to the youngest, |
| 0:26.7 | smarter member of the team. |
| 0:28.4 | Well, I can see some crossover, right? |
| 0:30.5 | I mean, Taylor and Travis, both very tall, |
| 0:32.3 | got the height, got the range to be good basketball players, I reckon. |
| 0:35.4 | And I think there'll probably be a lot of our listeners, |
| 0:37.7 | my wife included, who would think Taylor Swift might be the answer to a lot of our geopolitical |
| 0:42.6 | problems right now. Whatever the question is, send Taylor, she can solve it, maybe even peace in Iran. |
| 0:48.0 | But otherwise, I'm at a loss. Let me put you out of your misery. They are all live markets |
| 0:54.0 | right now on a major prediction market site. And in fact, Role, the market doesn't think that Taylor and Travis will get hitched before June 30th. I'm sure you have a view on that. Well, you know, they did have that kiss recently at the basketball match. But here's my advice to both of them as a happily married man, don't bother. That's what I would say. |
| 1:14.4 | Don't bother. Don't bother. Don't want a happy start. |
| 1:19.6 | Look, hold that thought because today, as regulators around the world are beginning to circle, |
| 1:25.3 | we're looking at how long is left in the prediction markets boom. Place your bets. That's here on Business Daily on the BBC World Service. |
| 1:30.8 | Yes, and welcome back to Power Players, our new name. I'm Michelle Flurry in the BBC's New York studio. |
| 1:37.1 | I'm Rahul Tandon, I'm a BBC studio in the UK. |
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