Interactive Brokers Founder Thomas Peterffy Backing New Prediction Market Platform
Lynne Wheat and Thomas Peterffy at the Cox Science Center and Aquarium 2025 Smarty Party sponsors reception at a private home November 29, 2024 in Palm Beach.
A new prediction market backed by billionaire Thomas Peterffy is preparing to launch.
According to a recent Business Insider investigation, Lumina Markets is hiring staff and preparing to launch its prediction platform.
What we know so far about Lumina Markets
Last week, Lumina Markets reportedly began advertising for legal and marketing jobs.
Per one of the listings, the job is “backed by a billionaire pioneer of electronic trading.” In this case, it’s Peterffy. The jobs were posted on LinkedIn.
The in-house lawyer position wants candidates with experience dealing with exchanges, futures commission merchants, and brokers. This knowledge comes in handy when trading on exchanges, which is what Lumina hopes to begin with its prediction market platform.
Per registration documents, Lumina has been incorporated by an in-house lawyer at Interactive Brokers, an online trading platform with access to stocks, futures, options, bonds, and funds.
Peterffy is the founder, chairman, and top shareholder of Interactive Brokers.
As for the marketing jobs, Lumina is looking for someone to handle user acquisition, creative production, analytics, brand positioning, collaboration, and more.
The marketing role, which is no longer accepting applications on LinkedIn, includes this description: “a full-stack marketer to own all Lumina’s marketing, from brand shaping and growth campaigns to community building and performance tracking. With high autonomy, you’ll architect our global debut and propel our narrative forward.”
Interactive Brokers’ role in this scenario
Interactive Brokers already offers a prediction market platform with ForecastEx, available through ForecastTrader.
Regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and owned by Interactive Brokers, ForecastEx offers users contracts on its website and Robinhood.
Known for low fees, Interactive Brokers allows users to take positions in a variety of markets compared to more retail investor-oriented brokerages.
Users can wager on future event outcomes with ForecastEx. For example, if you want to wager on the U.S. federal funds target rate in April, you can do that. Other markets include the global temperature in December 2026, the U.S. Consumer Price Index for February 2026, and the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide in our air for the year.
It’s unknown how Lumina Markets will differ from ForecastEx. However, Lumina will be backed by Interactive Brokers, which has become a giant success and propelled Peterffy to become one of the 30 richest people in the world, with a net worth of $87 billion.
Lumina is a play to capitalize on the prediction market boom
2026 should see even more growth for prediction markets.
Two of the leading prediction markets, Polymarket and Kalshi, continue to make significant ground in the gambling space.
Polymarket and Kalshi boast valuations of $9 billion and $11 billion, respectively.
The prediction market industry revenue is expected to close in on $10 billion over the next five years.
Prediction markets have gone so mainstream that Trevor Noah joked about Polymarket during the 2026 Grammys.
States are beginning to fight back against prediction markets, with the New York Attorney General Letitia James issuing a warning to prediction market bettors ahead of Super Bowl LX.
Expect more issues over prediction markets to increase as the platforms grow in 2026.
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