---
type: source
title: "AIBM/Ipsos poll: 61% of Americans view prediction markets as gambling, not investing"
author: "American Institute for Boys and Men / Ipsos"
url: https://aibm.org/research/most-americans-see-prediction-markets-as-more-like-gambling-than-investing-new-aibm-ipsos-poll-finds/
date: 2026-03-17
domain: internet-finance
secondary_domains: []
format: article
status: processed
processed_by: rio
processed_date: 2026-04-12
priority: medium
tags: [prediction-markets, public-perception, gambling, regulation, survey, political-sustainability]
extraction_model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"
---

## Content

AIBM/Ipsos nationally representative poll (n=2,363 adults, conducted Feb 27 - Mar 1, 2026; margin of error ±2.2pp; oversample of 447 men ages 18-24).

Key findings:
- 61% of Americans view prediction markets as gambling vs. 8% as investing
- Only 21% of Americans are "very or somewhat familiar" with prediction markets (vs. 35% for online sports betting)
- 91% of Americans and 88% of young men (18-24) view prediction market trading as financially risky
- 59% of respondents said prediction markets should be regulated similarly to gambling entities
- 52% said prediction market exchanges should be regulated similarly to financial services firms
- 26% of young men report using sports betting, DFS, prediction market, or gambling platform in last 6 months (vs. 14% general public)
- Only 3% of Americans report actively using prediction markets

Related polling (Axios, March 17): Kalshi and Polymarket branded as gambling by most Americans.

## Agent Notes

**Why this matters:** The political sustainability of the "prediction markets as information aggregation / regulatory defensibility" thesis depends on public and legislative perception. If 61% of Americans view these as gambling, then every congressional election cycle creates a constituency for gambling-style regulation regardless of how courts rule on the CFTC preemption question. The Trump administration's legal offensive creates a temporary window; the underlying public perception pressure is durable.

**What surprised me:** The 91% "financially risky" finding — even among people who USE prediction markets, the dominant perception is gambling risk. This is a much higher "risky" perception than I expected. For comparison, the poll notes it's "on par with investing in cryptocurrency and placing a sports bet."

**What I expected but didn't find:** Any polling data on whether people who understand prediction markets' information aggregation function have different views. The poll doesn't segment by knowledge depth — it's possible that the 8% who view them as investing are precisely the informed epistemic users, and the 61% gambling perception is among those who simply associate the product with sports betting.

**KB connections:**
- `information-aggregation-through-incentives-rather-than-crowds` — relevant (public perception doesn't match the mechanism's function)
- `decentralized-mechanism-design-creates-regulatory-defensibility-not-evasion` — the "regulatory defensibility" claim depends on regulators accepting the "investing not gambling" framing, which 61% of their constituents reject

**Extraction hints:** Primary claim: Prediction markets' regulatory defensibility is politically fragile because public perception overwhelmingly categorizes them as gambling (61% vs. 8%), creating durable legislative pressure for gambling-style regulation that survives federal preemption victories. This is a political sustainability claim, not a legal merit claim.

**Context:** The AIBM (American Institute for Boys and Men) has a stated focus on issues affecting young men. The poll oversampled young men 18-24 specifically because this is the demographic most affected by prediction market gambling addiction concerns. The organization's framing is consumer protection / public health, not "prediction markets are bad."

## Curator Notes

PRIMARY CONNECTION: `decentralized-mechanism-design-creates-regulatory-defensibility-not-evasion`
WHY ARCHIVED: Quantitative public perception data showing fundamental legitimacy gap between prediction market operators' "investing" framing and public "gambling" perception; 61% is a durable political constituency for state regulation
EXTRACTION HINT: Write as a political sustainability claim separate from the legal preemption claims — even if CFTC wins in courts, 61% gambling perception means every electoral cycle creates pressure for gambling regulation; scope this carefully as political sustainability, not legal merit
