By Suzanne McGee
PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island, May 14 (Reuters) – Tema, one of a growing number of ETF providers offering funds that track thematic trends, has filed with the U.S. securities regulator to roll out a new exchange-traded vehicle offering exposure to prediction market platforms and the trading infrastructure that supports them.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is already considering whether or not to approve some two dozen ETFs by other firms seeking to repackage prediction market questions into a product investors can trade as easily as a stock, offering an alternative way to play the boom in this space.
Tema said in its filing, made late on Wednesday, that it plans to invest in publicly traded companies worldwide that are either prediction market platforms or trading companies, such as exchanges, brokerage firms, market making companies and financial data providers.
While the asset management firm did not identify any specific companies, and did not immediately respond to requests for comment, that could include owning brokerages like Robinhood Markets or Interactive Brokers Group, both of which have introduced prediction market contracts on their platforms.
Trump Media and Technology Group has also launched a cryptocurrency-based prediction market on its social media outlet Truth Social.
Prediction markets allow users to trade binary contracts tied to political, economic, sports and entertainment events, with outcomes hinging on the eventual answers to questions that can range from whether Republicans or Democrats will win control of the U.S. Senate in this year’s midterm elections to the location of this summer’s wedding of Taylor Swift and football star Travis Kelce.
Prediction markets are attracting growing regulatory and congressional scrutiny, however, amid worries over conflicts of interest and insider trading.
(Reporting by Suzanne McGee in Providence, Rhode Island; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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