Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong caused a stir in the crypto community after dropping a string of popular industry buzzwords during the final seconds of the company’s Q3 earnings call. His comment instantly settled prediction markets on Kalshi and Polymarket with a “yes” result.
On these platforms, users had wagered on which specific words would be mentioned during Coinbase’s call. According to Kalshi, the total trading volume reached $80,933, while Polymarket recorded $3,914.
Participants said most traders managed to lock in profits in the final seconds before the call ended. On Polymarket, only 24 traders took part in the event, and no one lost more than $12 on a single bet.
Armstrong admitted he noticed the unusual activity around these prediction markets during the call:
“I was a little distracted because I was tracking the predictions market about what Coinbase will say in their next earnings call, and I just want to add here, the words Bitcoin, Ethereum, blockchain, staking, and Web3, make sure we get those in before the end of the call,” he said.
Later, in a post on X, he clarified that the move was spontaneous after someone from the team shared a link to one of the markets in the company chat.
Many users on Polymarket and Kalshi reacted with amusement, praising the playful move. Others, however, noted that such actions could raise questions about the integrity of prediction markets, which rely on trust and assume that insiders do not exploit privileged information for personal gain.
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