Susquehanna launches market-making unit to provide liquidity for prediction markets
Susquehanna International Group is moving into prediction markets because it sees an opportunity to bring professional liquidity to a fast-growing but still relatively thin part of the market. The trading firm has said its new business, Susquehanna Predictions, is focused on trading and making markets across regulated prediction venues, covering areas from finance and crypto to elections, culture and sports.[2]
The push comes as prediction markets have exploded in popularity, especially around the 2024 election, but still face a major obstacle: many contracts are illiquid, and trading volumes can be shallow. That makes it harder for larger investors, including hedge funds, to participate in a meaningful way, according to Bloomberg’s reporting on the company’s strategy and podcast discussion with Susquehanna executives.[1][3]
Susquehanna’s role is essentially to act as a market maker, helping ensure there is always a buyer or seller available. In the Bloomberg podcast, the firm described that work as providing liquidity across platforms in sports, economics and politics, and said it was among the first institutional players in prediction markets, initially helping to bootstrap trading when the space was mostly retail-driven.[3]
That liquidity function is central to why Susquehanna thinks the business can grow. The company argues that prediction markets are not just a betting venue but also a price-discovery tool, producing information about the probability of future events. In the podcast, Susquehanna said even a relatively modest amount of trading can help produce a fair price because of the “super forecasters” active in the market.[3]
The firm’s expansion also reflects a broader Wall Street interest in the sector. Business Insider reported that Susquehanna has been hiring traders to build real-time models for event-driven outcomes, while Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon has said his bank is also exploring opportunities in the space.[1] That suggests prediction markets are starting to attract attention beyond retail users and niche platforms.
For Susquehanna, the business matters because it fits the firm’s long-standing strengths in options, derivatives and market making. By applying those skills to event contracts, it hopes to help turn prediction markets into a more institutional asset class — one that can be used not only for speculation, but also for hedging risk and expressing views on everything from interest rates to elections.[1][3]