Robinhood pushes back, with force, after CFTC's 'shocking and stunning' rejection of its 'contract' betting bid, after gleaning affirmation in review process

I'm very confused how a financial services company is surprised that regulators will not allow them to operate a gambling site. Our industry educates clients on the importance of risk reduction, long-term investments and planning. For Robinhood, whose name plays on the idea of taking from the rich and giving to the poor, to launch a gambling site seems contradictory to all reason. T

Seems to me that financial markets and gambling venues are distinct in that financial markets provide the opportunity for "investments" to generate returns of greater than 0% for perhaps both buyers & sellers using bonds, stocks, commingled products (mutual funds, ETFs) and even futures and options. Gaming venues are distinct in that it is known a-priori that the returns across buyers and sellers will be negative (as the house, in this case Robinhood/Kalshi will take their cut)...that's the definition of gaming for you. Even formal derivatives markets allow for the benefits of time to fairly accrue to market participants (ie. backwardation and contango in futures, time value in options). That is not the case with event contracts.