Today in crypto, Robinhood has entered the prediction markets with the launch of a new betting platform. In France, authorities have temporarily lifted judicial restrictions on Telegram founder Pavel Durov until April 7. Meanwhile, South Korea’s central bank has clarified that it has neither discussed nor considered the possibility of holding Bitcoin reserves.
Robinhood shares up 8% after launching betting markets hub
Robinhood has launched a betting markets hub as the online brokerage — best known for stock trading — expands its presence in emergent asset classes, including cryptocurrencies and event contracts, according to a March 17 announcement.
Robinhood’s stock, HOOD, rose roughly 8% on the Nasdaq after the announcement, according to data from Google Finance.
The new betting feature will let users “trade contracts for what the upper bound of the target fed funds rate will be in May, as well as the upcoming men’s and women’s College Basketball Tournaments,” it said.
The online brokerage is tapping Kalshi, the US’ first CFTC-regulated prediction platform, to operate the event contract platform, it said.
Kalshi is already registered to list dozens of event contracts, covering outcomes ranging from election results to Rotten Tomatoes movie ratings.
Prediction markets have become increasingly popular in the US since September 2024, when Kalshi prevailed in a lawsuit challenging a CFTC decision to bar it from listing political event contracts.
By November, trading volumes across popular prediction markets neared $4 billion for contracts tied to the US elections.
HOOD’s intraday performance on the Nasdaq on March 17. Source: Google Finance
Pavel Durov legal restrictions suspended until April 7: Report
Media platform TASS reported that French authorities have suspended judicial control of Durov for three weeks. Citing sources in the French prosecutor’s office, media outlet TASS reported that the agency’s interlocutor said judicial control in relation to Durov was suspended from March 15 to April 7.
Parallely, the Telegram founder posted an update on the messaging application, saying he was already back in Dubai after spending months in France. Durov said the process is still ongoing but added that it “feels great to be home.”
Pavel Durov shared a post on Telegram after returning to Dubai. Source: Pavel Durov
In his post, Durov thanked the judges for allowing him to return to Dubai.
Bank of Korea to take ‘cautious approach’ to Bitcoin reserve
The Bank of Korea says it is taking a “cautious approach” to potentially including Bitcoin as a foreign exchange reserve.
Officials from the Korean central bank said in a March 16 response to a written inquiry that they have not looked into a potential Bitcoin (BTC) reserve, citing high volatility.
Responding to a question from Representative Cha Gyu-geun of the National Assembly’s Planning and Finance Committee, central bankers said that they have “neither discussed nor reviewed the possible inclusion of Bitcoin in foreign exchange reserves, adding that “a cautious approach is needed,” according to the Korea Herald.
“Bitcoin’s price volatility is very high,” the central bank noted, before adding that “in the case of cryptocurrency market instability, transaction costs to cash out Bitcoins could rise drastically.”
