Meta tests prediction market app using 'cred' points instead of cash: WSJ

Meta has started internal testing of a prediction market app with its employees that would let users compete on guessing the outcome of events without putting real money on the line, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The app, now going by the name Takes, lets users bet "cred" points, according to the report, which cited people familiar with the matter. Similar to other mainstream prediction markets that use money, correct predictions on Takes earn cred while wrong ones lose points.

The testing phase follows June reports that CEO Mark Zuckerberg directed employees to build a standalone prediction market app that would use points, though Meta had not ruled out eventually allowing real-money betting. At the time, the app was going by the name Arena.

The Journal's report does not say whether real-money contracts remain a possibility. Meta declined to comment or give a timetable for a public release.

It comes as real-money platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket are facing lawsuits from states that accuse them of offering illegal gambling. The platforms maintain that their event contracts are legal and fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government.

Speaking at the Cantor Convergence conference on Friday, Commodity and Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael Selig criticized states for pursuing criminal charges against prediction market executives, adding that the disputes should be raised to the Supreme Court.

"Somebody says it's gambling, somebody says it’s a derivative," Selig said. "That's not something that should be at the risk of going to jail."