The first global B2B conference for prediction markets, NEXTPredict, faces a disconnect between the story that lands it on national TV and the story its paying attendees want to hear. The event takes place October 22–23 at Convene, Hudson Yards in New York, and its founder openly admits the two narratives don’t align.
In August, Pierre Lindh, who co-founded and runs NEXT.io, spoke with PredictCentr about prediction market coverage becoming serious news that regular readers actually want to read, saying it now reaches an audience far beyond the iGaming trade he originally came from. “Nobody was serving it with real journalistic standards,”
The Midterm Problem
Right now, the midterms are what prediction market headlines are all about. The conference itself, though, centers on market structure, regulation and professionalization. Lindh states the matter without beating around the bush: “The story that gets the summit on air is not the story delegates are paying to be in the room for, and both have to be true at the same time.”
In August, ahead of the midterms, he arranged for CNBC correspondent Contessa Brewer and CNN senior reporter Marshall Cohen to appear on the program. He also constructed the main stage with material that national broadcasters would send crews to cover, describing it as a “healthy part” of the lineup.
Since then, the media plan has expanded from 50 passes up to between 100 and 200.
Numbers Behind the Noise
Prediction markets have mainstream distribution, but the actual user base is smaller than the coverage suggests. Polymarket’s monthly active users sit around 283,300, measured by Token Terminal as unique addresses making a revenue-generating transaction. That’s down from a peak above 750,000 in the spring.
The company reported that Kalshi experienced significant growth during the 2026 World Cup, adding 3 million new users over the course of the tournament. More than $1.2 billion were traded on the winner contract alone, which set a record for a single market. Days without matches showed volume far below those with matches.
The leader of “Our volumes are where the news is at,” Tarek Mansour, spoke to CNBC in July.
Who Is Speaking
The agenda includes two serving CFTC directors:
- David Miller from enforcement
- Duncan Hennes from market participants
DraftKings chief executive Jason Robins and Robinhood’s JB Mackenzie are also confirmed, along with executives from Kalshi, Novig, Cboe, Myriad (owned by Decrypt’s parent company Dastan) and Blackstone.
Insider trading gets its own session, chaired by WilmerHale’s Matthew Kulkin. Lindh calls it the industry’s most exposed point: “This is going to be the sticking point and the most difficult point to resolve.”
Hedging the Event
The planners secured insurance for an unlucky day at the gathering. They purchased $3 million of protection on Kalshi’s flight cancellation market for a $12,000 fee, with Susquehanna acting as market maker. Should more than half of flights arriving at JFK be canceled on October 21, the transaction covers the cost of the event.
The wager comes across as a jest, yet it carries real weight. The conference has placed its very survival on the weather.
What We Make Of It
The conference organizer is openly acknowledging what few other conference organizers care to admit: far more people follow these prediction markets than actually trade in them, and the media attention is focused on the wrong angle. The twist is that the conference itself is built around that very gap — national TV crews will show up for the midterms, while the audience gets the structural discussion instead.
It’s a clever strategy, but it’s also a fragile one. If the midterms fade from national headlines before October, the crews stop showing up. And if the structure talks don’t deliver, the paying attendees will have bought a ticket to a trade show.
The Kalshi flight trade serves as a fitting metaphor for the entire enterprise. By trading, the conference is hedging against its own peril — the peril that the story which lands it on television is not the story that anyone is willing to pay for.
NEXTPredict is running from October 22–23 at Convene, Hudson Yards, New York. The confirmed attendee list runs through Jason Robins of DraftKings, JB Mackenzie of Robinhood, Kalshi, Novig, Cboe, Myriad, and Blackstone. Media passes are set for 50, covering between 100 and 200. A flight insurance market on Kalshi carries $3 million in cover, with a $12,000 premium and Susquehanna acting as market maker. National TV crews are already booked around the midterms.
Key Facts Box
- Event: NEXTPredict
- Dates: October 22–23
- Venue: Convene, Hudson Yards, New York
- Media passes: 50 booked, up to 200 covered
- Flight insurance: $3 million cover, $12,000 premium
- Market maker: Susquehanna
Source material: “NEXTPredict Founder: 'Nobody Was Serving' Prediction Markets' Enormous Audience,” Decrypt.
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