Kalshi outpaces Polymarket after pair feature in South Park episode
Crypto prediction market Kalshi pulled in nearly $1.3 million more than its biggest rival Polymarket after they both launched trades based on an episode of controversial animation South Park featuring the pair. Kalshi had $1.5 million in volume on its “What will the South Park characters say?” market while Polymarket had a more modest $203,000 on markets speculating about what would be said and which of the show’s characters would trade. The episode in general poked fun at the absurdity of prediction markets, with platforms taking bets on whether or not central character Kyle Broflovski’s Jewish mother would strike Gaza and bomb a Palestinian hospital. Another of the main characters, Cartman, bets that Kyle’s mother won’t bomb a hospital, but convinces everyone that she will so that the potential profits of his “no” bet increase. This market manipulation was called out by Stan, who described it as an illegal conflict of interest . The episode poked f...