Instadocs Documentary Probes $5.6 Billion Prediction-Market Boom Ahead of July 26 Premiere

3 articles · Updated · Netflix Tudum · Jul 23

July 26 marks the premiere of Instadocs: The Prediction Games, a Netflix documentary examining the fast-growing, contentious world of prediction markets.
More than $5.6 billion was wagered on last weekend’s World Cup final through Polymarket and Kalshi alone, underscoring how mainstream these legal betting platforms have become.
The film follows bets on events from elections and weather to Taylor Swift’s wedding and armed conflict, while questioning whether the chase for quick profits is distorting reality itself.
Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan, Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour and CFTC official Michael Selig appear in the installment, which is the second entry in Netflix’s quick-turn Instadocs series.

Sources

With billions wagered on real-world events, are prediction markets the ultimate truth engine or a dangerous catalyst for manipulation?

As mainstream giants like Robinhood enter the fray, will looming CFTC crackdowns crush the explosive billion-dollar forecasting boom?

Could the financialization of everyday events incentivize hackers and insiders to secretly orchestrate the very outcomes they bet on?