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Nobody is getting rich by placing bets in the prediction markets.
One guy tried to do it. A U.S. Army soldier involved in the planning of the operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro placed a $32,500 bet on Polymarket that Maduro would be “out” by January 31.
That paid out more than $400,000.
But, before Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke could pick up his winnings, he was picked up by law enforcement on five charges of stealing and misusing confidential government information.
Only the 535 members of Congress can get away with that. The rest of us 260 million US adults need to find some other way to get rich.
The most consistent way to do that is to work hard. Put 10% of every paycheck into a safe, conservative investment with a modest rate of return. And, let the magic of compound interest do its thing. That way, you should be able to build a large nest egg… eventually.
But, it takes a lot of patience to wait for “eventually.” And, in this 15-second, click-bait, dopamine-induced society, most folks don’t have that sort of patience.
So, they resort to other strategies – like gambling – to try to achieve their financial goals.
Roughly 39 million Americans have prediction market accounts. Since the start of 2025, Kalshi – one of the largest platforms – has seen its active monthly users grow from 600,000 to over 5.1 million. And, the most prominent demographic is men aged 18-49 – with 33% of that group having used a prediction platform.
That’s crazy.
Yes… prediction markets are a fun source of entertainment. It’s more interesting to watch sports or the evening news when you have a small stake riding on the outcome. But, if you’re betting in the prediction markets as a way to get rich or to build your nest egg, you will go broke doing so.
May I make an alternative suggestion?
12 Trades to $1 Million Challenge
If you’re already working hard, and investing part of your paycheck every month, but you’re worried you’re running out of time, don’t turn to gambling.
Instead, please attend the free launch event for my 12 Trades to $1 Million Challenge on Thursday, May 14 at 10am ET.
The whole point of the challenge is to steer you away from gambling and towards a usable skill to profit consistently in the stock market.
Will you actually make $1 million in just 12 trades? Who knows. The odds are stacked against it.
But, the current market environment is similar to the two previous times it could have happened. So, it is possible.
You see, one of my team members went back through the 381 trade recommendations I’ve closed over the past nine years here at Jeff Clark Trader.
He found there were 36 streaks of three or more winning trades in a row. Twenty-one of those ran to five trades or longer.
And on two occasions, the streaks ran long enough that someone starting with $5,000 and rolling the profits from one trade into the next would have ended up with seven figures.
The first was during the 2023 banking crisis. Nine trades – $5,000 to $1.3 million.
The second was during the first big wave of AI repricing in 2025. Twelve trades – $5,000 to $2.6 million.
What did these two periods have in common with today’s market? Both were times of significant disruption and volatility.
More important, though, you will learn the skills necessary to make money trading the financial markets without blowing yourself up.
These are the same skills I used to manage money for some of California’s wealthiest investors. The same skills that enabled me to retire at the age of 42. The same skills I still use to trade the markets today.
You can sign up for my 12 Trades to $1 Million Challenge by going here.
I hope to see you there.
Best regards and good trading,
Jeff Clark
Editor, Market Minute
P.S. By attending, yes, you’ll be invited to try my 12 trades to $1 million challenge… But you’ll also be learning tried and true, usable, safe, low-risk trading skills.
This is the best way to grow your nest egg, especially in these “new normal” volatile markets.
Join me here.