Another case of prediction market manipulation: Over 500,000 fake streams deleted. Spotify links Malcolm Todd song stream manipulation to Kalshi betting
2026-07-03 02:38
Odaily Planet Daily News: Music streaming platform Spotify has deleted over 500,000 fake streams for the song "Earrings" by musician Malcolm Todd. The song had been pushed to the top of the charts. Spotify's investigation found that the stream manipulation was linked to prediction market betting activities, where traders on the Kalshi platform placed bets on which song would become the most-streamed track on Spotify in the US in June. The market had a trading volume of $3 million. Before Spotify completed its investigation, Kalshi declared Todd the winner and settled the market based on the manipulated data. After discovering the issue, Spotify requested that Kalshi and Polymarket remove their branding and clarify that there is no partnership between them. Kalshi stated it is cooperating with the investigation, while Polymarket has not responded.
