Illegal Gambling Market Hits $5.9 Trillion, Becomes Third-Largest Economy

The global black market for gambling has reached $5.9 trillion in value, effectively turning the sector into the world’s third-largest economy if this number were applied to gross domestic products of countries.

The global gambling market is divided into regulated, unregulated, and unacknowledged categories. The third category, the "unacknowledged" market, refers to a variety of products such as social and sweepstakes casinos, "fake financial products," skin betting and trading, TikTok contests, and prediction markets.

Prediction markets are emerging as a sector contributing to the confusion and gamification of everything. The unacknowledged market fuels consumer confusion and accelerates unregulated growth and regulatory complexity. Prediction markets are classified as finance in the United States and regulated under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s mandate, but deemed illegal gambling outside the country. Around $3.1 billion was traded through prediction markets around the time of the Super Bowl this year.