Link: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/06/23/meta-is-developing-a-prediction-market-app-called-arena-as-sector-booms-nyt

Under capitalism the endpoint of every app is a slot machine.

Next up, porn called Micro Meta

I have no idea why investors still believe in meta. They are absolutely thrashing right now because they're so out of ideas. Metaverse was a good idea but they could never be the ones to implement it well. Then just AI and now this? They don't know what they're doing

What a horrible insult to the software that basically made the WWW get going. Arena was the first widespread web browser.

I genuinely wouldn't be surprised if Meta bought a major porn site

Meta feels like Microsoft did back in the mid 90s. They dominated a market completely, then went looking for other markets to dominate based on buzzwords and vibes.

Why buy when you can just steal?

Time to start pivoting from AI.

I haven't been following the market in a while, but I'm pretty sure they keep reporting record revenue and profit. And investors seem to like layoffs. And Zuckerberg has shown he's not afraid to buy favors from politicians.

Was the metaverse a good idea? I’m not convinced

Zawinski's Law needs to be updated to change 'email client' to 'slot machine'.

Zuck's whole thing is just stealing names from far cooler things. Metaverse came from a Neal Stephenson novel

So on brand for Zuck

I honestly think the Metaverse could be a revolutionary idea. However, the way it could be great is not compatible with how Big Tech would ever build it. It would need to be equalized, democratized, owned by the people. There of course could be private or paid areas, but it could never be the default. A user would need to be able to live a completely normal experience in there on their own, with their friends, with no paywalls - ever. That's why big tech would never be able to do it. Then if you wanted to go somewhere and watch a licensed movie that's paid, that's separate.

Meta [just had] a record $56.3B quarter maybe?

Snow Crash. Awesome Book

Those who cannot create, just steal. That's how billionaires are made, and this is how AI is made.

Well, the metaverse was a wast of money, but you can't really say operating a casino is.

House always wins. It's basically just theft.