South Park skewers prediction markets in latest episode

The animated series South Park already kicked off its 27th season by ripping into cryptocurrencies and politics, and its most recent episode set its sights on prediction market apps.

In its episode titled Conflict of Interest, which aired on Wednesday, the characters in South Park’s elementary school engaged in a debate over the merits of prediction markets and the role US regulators had in overseeing them.

Among the bets they made on a Kalshi- or Polymarket-type app included guessing school lunches, the outcome of conflicts between Israel and Palestine and whether a fictional baby was a boy or a girl.

The show also poked fun at the individuals in charge of prediction markets and US regulators, including the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC), claiming they were “highly professional strategic advisers,” while portraying a character resembling Donald Trump Jr., who joined Polymarket’s advisory board in August.

Fictional Kalshi bet featured on the latest episode of South Park. Source: Comedy Central

South Park has regularly incorporated cryptocurrency and blockchain themes into its satire. Past episodes have featured US President Donald Trump’s connections to crypto, labeled Bitcoin (BTC) a “fly-by-night Ponzi scheme,” and and made fun of people investing in non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

The show’s 27th season launched after its owner, Paramount Global, reached a $16 million settlement with Trump over allegations of deceptive editing in an interview. The show consistently mocks the US president.

Federal scrutiny of prediction markets seems to be waning in the US

Kalshi had been engaged in a legal battle with the CFTC after the US regulator ordered the company to stop offering political event contracts in 2023. A lower court ruled in favor of Kalshi, prompting a CFTC appeal, which the regulator moved to drop in May while under acting Chair Caroline Pham.

Polymarket has similarly fared well with the CFTC under Pham. On Sept. 3, the financial regulator issued a no-action letter for two Polymarket entities, allowing the company to offer event contracts without reporting the data required under US regulations, without the threat of enforcement.

Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan said at the time that the CFTC’s action had given Polymarket “the green light to go live in the USA.”