Vitalik Supports Hezbollah Betting Markets as Middle East Braces for War

Vitalik Buterin said he supports the existence of betting markets on Polymarket that relate to Hezbollah. Ethereum’s chief scientist replied to an X post that warned that betting on terrorist organizations would make war “look like a football game.”

Pseudonymous crypto analyst Legendary posted a screenshot of a dozen betting markets, including whether Israel will invade Lebanon, if there will be a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel, and what the odds are that the U.S. military will strike against Iran.

Bettors have wagered more than $10 million across the 12 markets.

Yesterday, Buterin claimed he supports these markets, pointing out that the “point of Polymarket is that from the perspective of traders, it’s a betting site, but from the perspective of viewers, it’s a new site.”

“It’s not about ‘making money from bad stuff happening; it’s about creating an environment where speech has consequences (so both unjustified fear-mongering and unjustified complacency are punished) without relying on governmental or corporate censors,” he added.

Crypto Twitter is split over the morality of such markets as Iran pummels Israel today with bombs after the latter bombed Lebanon and killed several of Hezbollah’s highest-ranking leaders.

Polymarket does have a note on Middle East Markets that reads, “The promise of prediction markets is to harness the wisdom of the crowd to create accurate, unbiased forecasts for the most important events to society. That ability is particularly invaluable in gut-wrenching times like today.”

The betting site also noted that it is taking zero fees and providing the service at a loss.