Hyperliquid Demands 500,000 HYPE Stake for Permissionless Markets
Hyperliquid is making a massive leap into decentralized forecasting with its upcoming HIP-4 upgrade, allowing anyone to deploy prediction markets—provided they have the capital. According to Cointelegraph, developers will be required to stake 500,000 HYPE tokens, valued at approximately $30.4 million, to launch a permissionless market. While deployers can set trading fees of up to 50%, they face severe penalties. The Defiant reports that deployers risk having their stake slashed via validator votes if they create poorly defined or unsettled markets. The feature will initially roll out on testnet before hitting mainnet.
Bernstein Lifts Robinhood Target to $160 on Prediction Market Boom
Traditional finance is taking note of the sector's explosive profitability. Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani has raised Robinhood's price target from $130 to $160, directly citing the brokerage's prediction market success. As noted by The Defiant, Chhugani argues that Robinhood's prediction-market revenue is on track to eclipse its entire crypto trading business as early as the second quarter. This shift, alongside its Arbitrum-based Robinhood Chain and tokenized equities, is expected to heavily reduce the company's reliance on traditional crypto volumes. For traders looking to track these shifting volumes across platforms, predictionmarketstools.com offers comprehensive analytics.
France Orders ISPs to Geoblock Polymarket
In regulatory news, France's gambling authority, the Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ), has ordered the country's internet service providers to geoblock Polymarket. CoinDesk reports that the regulator cited concerns over addictive mechanics and a lack of self-exclusion tools. The crackdown comes after a high volume of French users continually bypassed previous financial restrictions. The ANJ also pointed to broader concerns surrounding illegal gambling and potential market manipulation, according to Cointelegraph.