Prediction markets have so far been the buzz of 2026. These platforms allow users to trade options on the outcome of almost anything, and are widely available across the United States.
Readers who’ve never used a prediction market before could be forgiven for feeling intimidated at first. There’s no reason to be, though, as they’re simple to use. This article will lay out all the basics needed to start trading.
The first thing needed is to select a prediction market app for Android. While there are many great options, the best is Crypto.com's standalone prediction market app. When it comes down to using it, here’s everything you need to know to start confidently using prediction markets.
What is a prediction market?
Prediction markets allow users, known on the apps as traders, to take positions against each other on the outcomes of certain events. These might be sports events, politics, economic milestones, tech happenings, or anything else going on in popular culture.
No matter the market, each one has a binary ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ option for the potential outcomes. Traders purchase either Yes or No contracts based on which outcome they think will happen. For example, a market could ask “Will the new version of Android launch before September 1st?”. Traders then buy Yes contracts if they think it will be out before then, and those who think it’d be later would buy No contracts.
The sum of each Yes/No contract is always $1. The price you see, though, is the price you're paying for your side of the contract. For instance, the Yes market could be 16¢, and the No market 84¢.
The conditions for the market to settle are clearly laid out. For our example, it would be whether a new version of Android is released, or whether the September 1st deadline passes. Once this happens, the contracts are resolved, and those who backed the right option have their positions mature.
How do prediction markets pay out?
Once the event is resolved, the correct contracts are all worth $1, and the incorrect ones $0. A winning contract bought at 84¢ would therefore return 16¢ profit per contract when resolved to $1. Should the 16¢ option be correct, it will resolve with a nice 84¢ profit per contract.
To put this another way, an $8 purchase at 16¢ per contract would give 50 shares in the outcome. If this resolves as a win, it would pay out $50. This returns the original $8 trade, plus $42 in profit before any fees.
It’s also possible to sell your contracts before a market closes. If you purchased contracts at 16¢, and something makes them shoot up to be worth 32¢, you can try to sell them at this price. This means you wouldn’t receive any further funds once the market resolves, but would lock in some profit early and eliminate the risk of losses.
Staying safe using prediction markets
The most important thing when using a prediction market is to always trade responsibly. Real money is being used to purchase contracts, and the possibility of losses is very real. Make a budget before you start trading, and stick to it. Setting deposit, trade, and loss caps is an excellent way to ensure that trading stays fun.
It’s equally important to stay safe by only using real and verified prediction market apps. These are downloaded from the Google Play Store, where you can trust that the apps are legit, or directly from a prediction market’s mobile site. Never manually download and install APKs from unverified third party sources.
