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PredictIt Users Threaten Lawsuit Following Disastrous Election Night Crash

PredictIt crashed last night when reporting on the U.S. Presidential election. When the platform came back to life, the odds had drastically changed. Now, users want answers.

PredictIt Users Threaten Lawsuit Following Disastrous Crash on Election Night
Shutterstock cover by alexkich

Key Takeaways

  • PredictIt, a major prediction market, crashed under heavy volume on election night.
  • Biden lost his edge as platform favorite with Trump suddenly taking a strong lead.
  • Biden is once again the favorite candidate and trading is live once more.

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Major crypto prediction market PredictIt crashed in the early hours of the morning on Nov. 4, with the team posting a tweet at 01:27 am UTC addressing the problem. 

https://twitter.com/PredictIt/status/1323799070784262146

PredicIt Crash May Have Cost Users Big

Hundreds of angry PredictIt users responded furiously in the comments thread, with many demanding refunds and threatening civil action. 

https://twitter.com/satanofpi/status/1323807649943691266

The odds fluctuated wildly throughout the night, and as on other platforms, Trump suddenly took the lead as market sentiment shifted heavily in his favor. 

When Crypto Briefing reported on PredictIt odds yesterday, Biden futures were worth $0.65 compared to Trump’s $0.41, with one screenshot before the crash showing Trump’s share prices rising to $0.61 vs. $0.55 for Biden. Shares can be traded as price changes or sold for a maximum of $1 for successful wagers. 

Trump favorite on PredictIt
Trump was the clear favorite about an hour before the crash. Source: Twitter

At approximately 10:00 am UTC, the odds swung heavily back in Biden’s favor. PredictIt charts show major fluctuations in candidate share prices during the crash, shown below at the 11-hour mark.

PredictIt Flips
Source: PredictIt

Other markets also saw the odds between both candidates shift as the election results unfolded throughout the night. It seems that the crash occurred just as uncertainty around the election spiked, marking the peak time for would-be prediction traders.

Missed Opportunities for PredictIt Traders

After at least six hours of reported downtime, PredictIt is now operational again, with Biden’s odds now better than ever at $0.76 per share to Trump’s $0.31.

PredictIt platform
Source: PredictIt

Political event shares can be bought and sold at any point until the event in question has concluded.

One user stated that the position they had intended to hold short-term had been wiped out during the platform’s crash, causing them to lose their funds. Many such trading opportunities were likely lost as a result of the crash.

Other markets may have benefitted from the downed service, with Polymarket taking to Twitter to boast about uninterrupted service. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin also tweeted his support for Polymarket following the PredictIt crash.

PredictIt staff was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.

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