A black suit event was recently held at the White House.

One of the attending guests was the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman.

A prediction had been running on prediction markets platforms, where people were betting on whether the Crown would wear a black suit.

Those who put their money on yes could have multiplied their initial bet by almost 17 times, but with a catch – the prince would actually have to be clad in a black suit.

The Crown Prince didn’t attend the event in a black suit; therefore, those who voted on it have lost their money.

At the event, the Crown Prince gave a speech.

During his speech, he mentioned that he had learned of the prediction involving him:

“Before I came here, someone told me that there are betting sites where you can bet on me wearing a black suit, and if you bet on me, you could get almost 17x. Sorry, you lose the bet. Better luck next time!”

There were other predictions made about the event, which also involved the Crown Prince, but the fact that he is aware of these markets already points to these markets’ reach and cultural relevance.

The bets were on whether Trump and the prince would hug, how long the handshake between them would last, and the phrases Trump would reference. Not everyone is happy with those prediction markets, but they are here to stay, and consumers and sports betting operators are embracing them.

Predictions on Everything

Recently, prediction markets have started to become more mainstream and have been integrated into popular culture.

Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket have been getting referenced more and more often.

The CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, as a joke, listed several words that had been bet on, which led to outrage by those who had bet against him using the specific turn of phrase.

In the meantime, prediction markets have been featured in popuplar culture. In their latest season of South Park, they released an episode in September where many parts of the plot revolved around the characters’ fascination with prediction apps.

Betting on the Future

Millions of transactions occur on these prediction markets.

There are constant releases of new prediction markets, which have saturated the internet and increased the competition for Polymarket and Kalshi, the two most popular ones.

The last recorded notional volume on Polymarket and Kalshi hit $2 billion, which surpassed their last peak in 2024. Similarly, in partnership with Crypto.com, the Trump Media & Technology Group has announced that it’ll be launching its own prediction market called Truth Predict.