Prediction platforms powered by blockchain technology

The first-ever online prediction market was the IEM (Iowa Electronic Markets) in 1988, or “Iowa Political Stock market”, which allowed students use real money ($5-$500) in a simulated market to trade contracts on events such as political elections and learn more about finance and politics. Although primarily political, the prediction market had existed before 1988. Records of papal successor predictions in 1503 and US elections by 1884 exist. In July 2018, the first decentralised prediction market, Augur, was launched on the Ethereum blockchain, being based around four functions: creating, trading, reporting and settlement. Whilst often used casually, ‘prediction’, ‘betting’ and ‘wagering’ have their own distinct meanings. A prediction is simply a forecast about the outcome of an event; prediction markets leverage the wisdom of the crowd, where the combined knowledge of many people is often superior to any single expert. This collective intelligence leads to a market price that reflec…