Apple bans staff from betting on prediction markets with inside info

Apple just put prediction markets off-limits for anyone holding its secrets. The company has barred employees from using confidential information to place bets on the platforms, according to Cointelegraph. And the rule doesn't stop at Apple's own payroll — it explicitly covers the company's suppliers and carriers as well.

The sharpest part is the caveat. Apple says the ban applies whether or not the betting would actually count as insider trading. That means the company isn't waiting on a legal test to decide what's off-limits — it's drawing the line itself, and setting the bar lower than the courtroom would.

Prediction markets have become a crowded corner of the internet, letting users wager on real-world outcomes rather than on stocks or coins. That growth has pulled in users far beyond finance, and it has made the question of who knows what before placing a bet a live one for big employers.

Pulling suppliers and carriers into the policy widens the net considerably. Apple's devices are built by outside manufacturers and sold through wireless carriers worldwide, so confidential details flow through plenty of hands that never sat on Apple's campus. The report didn't spell out penalties or how Apple intends to enforce the rule, and the company hasn't said publicly how it will police it.