Meta is working on a new smartphone application that would host prediction markets similar to platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi, according to two employees familiar with the matter. The project is being led at the direction of Mark Zuckerberg and is operating under the internal name "Arena."
The app is being developed as a standalone product and would be separate from Metas existing social properties - Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. That structural separation reflects a broader push by company leadership to experiment with new kinds of apps that respond to emerging online social behaviour, employees said.
Under the current plan, users would not place real-money bets on the platform. Instead, the app would most likely employ a gamified, video game-style points system to facilitate participation. Meta has not closed the door on the possibility of enabling real-money wagering at a later date, one employee added.
Meta intends to grow Arena by directing traffic from its large installed user base to the new app. The companys own usage figures show that more than 3.56 billion people visit at least one of Metas apps every day, a scale the company hopes to tap for user acquisition on standalone experiments.
Employees described the Arena initiative as experimental, though they also characterised it as a top priority. The effort forms part of an internal push by Zuckerberg to build additional standalone applications in response to questions about whether the companys existing platforms have reached saturation.
In addition to Arena, the company is testing other independent apps. One such experiment, called Meta Photos, would create new forms of media using artificial intelligence, employees said.
Market participants reacted quickly to reports of Metas plans. Shares of companies that have recently expanded into event contracts and prediction betting - DraftKings and Robinhood - declined sharply in intraday trading following the reports, while Metas shares moved modestly higher in the same session.
Context limitations: The details provided here reflect what employees shared about the initiative and Metas stated intentions; the companys plans remain subject to change.