Wired·5 min read·medium
Prediction Markets Let You Bet on Whether a Wildfire Will Burn Down Your Town
K
Kylie Mohr
✦AI Summary
Prediction markets like Polymarket allowed users to bet on the progression and impact of the 2025 California wildfires. Critics argue that profiting from natural disasters is morally reprehensible.
Sylvie Andrews and her partner didn’t just lose the new house they’d helped build when the Eaton Fire ripped through Altadena, California, in January 2025. They lost an entire decade’s worth of sacrifices they’d made to put down roots in their hometown, and the community they’d created. “We put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into it,” Andrews said. “That’s what we lost in the fire.”
technologyenvironmenteconomy
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