Employees of Meta✴ have begun internal testing of a new app codenamed Takes, which serves as a platform for predicting the outcomes of events. According to 3DNews, the service is in the development phase and its mechanics resemble popular prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, though it does not currently allow betting with real money. The app is not yet available to the general public, and the company has not confirmed any plans for an official launch.
How Takes works
Unlike Kalshi and Polymarket, where participants trade contracts using real funds, bets in Takes are made with virtual points called 'cred' — short for credibility. For a correct prediction, the user receives points, and for an incorrect one, they lose them. This format allows the company to test prediction market mechanics without financial risks and without the need to comply with gambling regulations, which likely explains the choice of a virtual currency during the internal testing phase.
What employees are predicting
The questions available in the app range from serious to recreational. On Thursday, November 12, one of the items concerned whether former Apple CEO Tim Cook would become the new head of Nvidia; the majority of participants bet that this would not happen. Another question was dedicated to predicting the winner of an episode of the popular TV show 'Jeopardy!'. This mix of topics is typical for prediction markets, where cultural events are traded alongside politics and economics.
Context: Zuckerberg’s directive and the dogfooding practice
According to reports, the development of the prediction market app was commissioned by CEO Mark Zuckerberg to one of Meta's departments; in the summer, the project went by the name Arena. Zuckerberg himself has not publicly mentioned Takes, but it is known that he discussed up to 50 new projects with Chief Product Officer Chris Cox. The company regularly conducts internal testing of new features and services — a process known as 'dogfooding' — and not all developments reach a public release: names and feature sets can change by the time of launch.
Rising popularity of prediction markets and legal risks
Interest in prediction markets is steadily growing, according to industry observers, especially among the younger audience, whose retention is one of Meta's goals. Meanwhile, monetary platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket have faced lawsuits from various US state authorities, who consider their operations to be illegal gambling; the companies are challenging these claims, citing federal regulation. The use of virtual 'cred' points in Takes may be specifically linked to the desire to bypass such legal restrictions at an early stage.
