Revealed: Owner of Instagram and WhatsApp Secretly Develops Gambling-Style App

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Messenger, is reportedly secretly developing a ‘prediction market’ application similar to Polymarket and Kalshi. Both of those applications are currently very popular for internet users to ‘place bets’ on all kinds of events. The project has been given the internal code name ‘Arena’ and could become a serious competitor to Polymarket and Kalshi, according to a New York Times report cited by the New York Post on Tuesday. This standalone app is designed to allow users to guess or predict the outcomes of various events, ranging from sports matches, general elections, major news stories, to economic data and the entertainment industry. However, there is a fundamental difference in the early launch phase. Arena will not use real money for betting. Instead, the system implemented will be points or scores like a video game, making it more about entertainment and social interaction. Even so, sources familiar with the plans stated that Meta is not ruling out the possibility of introducing a real-money betting system in the future, depending on market response and applicable legal regulations. Arena is being developed as a standalone application, not directly integrated into Meta’s existing social media ecosystem. This step is considered strategic to maintain boundaries between conversation and content-sharing services and prediction features that carry their own risks and supervisory rules. Meta has the advantage of now having more than 3.5 billion users. The company hopes this vast reach can accelerate Arena’s market acceptance, while also becoming a new source of growth as user growth on its main platforms begins to slow. Prediction and betting platforms based on real events have been on the rise over the past two years. Many users are interested in trying to guess election results, sports matches, and award winners. Polymarket and Kalshi are the two biggest names dominating this segment, with systems that allow transactions using real money or cryptocurrency. Although starting with a points system, the long-term plan that could lead to real-money betting raises questions about regulation. There is a possibility that Meta will use Instagram, WhatsApp, or Facebook to attract new users to Arena. In Indonesia, gambling and betting activities are strictly prohibited by law, and tight supervision is imposed on applications or services containing similar elements. Meta has not yet provided an official response regarding this report, nor on how it plans to implement the app in various countries with different legal frameworks. Besides Arena, Meta is also reportedly working on another project called ‘Meta Photos’, which focuses on creating new media content using artificial intelligence, as part of a strategy to explore new products beyond conventional social media.