TIME, the global media company spawned from its more-than-a-century-old news magazine, is partnering with U.K.-based Galactic for a new prediction market offering. The markets, which will be informed by TIME’s journalism but operate independently from its newsroom, are slated to launch in early 2026.
In a news release, TIME and Galactic said the partnership will allow readers to “engage with dynamic, story-driven content and an AI-powered interactive experience that helps them explore, interpret, and predict what happens next.” TIME COO Mark Howard said the markets will provide more engagement opportunities and enhance the reader experience.
“TIME is driven by our ambition to continue to push the boundaries of traditional media to ensure our content and audience experience is compelling, accurate, and evolving,” Howard said. “The launch of prediction markets in partnership with Galactic enables us to engage readers in new ways that reflect TIME’s innovative spirit.”
Partnership will help TIME see which content engages readers most
Galactic’s prediction market platform Predictor.io will power the TIME markets. Galactic is partnered with the Truth Network, which provides the blockchain infrastructure upon which the markets are built.
Galactic announces partnership with Time
Built on https://t.co/0NuRcxkTVC Galactic will power Time’s prediction markets, delivering prediction markets across news, politics, entertainment and more
In partnership with @truth_network_
Launch early 2026https://t.co/W4pSq7ymcI
— Galactic Markets (@galacticmarkets) November 20, 2025
Axios reported that Galactic will provide the TIME newsroom with a dashboard featuring real-time insights that will show which content readers are most interested in. Senior advisor for Galactic Howard Mittman said linking up with TIME will be a mutually beneficial partnership.
“We think that partnership with brands like Time allows us to find the signal in the noise, and that’s a big part of why we think this is such an interesting value proposition, both for Time (and) their users and for the predictors that come to our platform,” Mittman said. “We see ourselves as somewhat of a beacon inside of a splintered ecosystem.”
Galactic previously launched SI Predict with Sports Illustrated
Galactic describes itself as “a media engagement engine empowering brands to capitalize on their audience’s opinions and reward their expertise through integrated prediction markets.” With its stated goal of partnering with numerous media companies, Galactic announced a partnership similar to the TIME alliance with Sports Illustrated in March to offer sports-related prediction markets through the SI Predict vertical.
Bloomberg reported at the time of the announcement that SI Predict would offer sports event contracts, but not those related to game outcomes, instead focusing on contracts for things like game attendance and halftime show song selections. The Closing Bell newsletter reported that in June, SI Predict had launched, offering about 20 sports-adjacent markets, including one for whether a fan would be shown on camera holding a dog during Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
While building the platform to be compliant with the regulations of the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority and the U.S.’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Galactic didn’t appear to have the required CFTC approval to operate a prediction market platform, raising questions about SI Predict’s legality.
Galactic CEO Stuart Stott even told Bloomberg that “as a non-custodial platform, it does not need to be regulated.”
In SI Predict’s FAQ section, the platform explained its regulatory reasoning, saying it’s “structured to avoid the need for financial or gambling regulation under current interpretations.”
“Markets are carefully chosen and worded by a compliance board to avoid regulated gambling products, meaning SI Predict steers clear of wagers that would require a gambling license,” the answer continued, without directly addressing how it avoids potential CFTC action.
Galactic navigating complex prediction trading regulations
Galactic may have adjusted its regulatory interpretation not long after SI Predict’s launch. In July, the company announced that it was “enhancing” its regulatory compliance by partnering with an unnamed entity that had acquired Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) designation from National Futures Association (NFA), the self-regulatory organization that operates under the supervision and delegation of the CFTC.
Galactic also said it had registered with the NFA, another step towards CFTC compliance.
Partnering with an FCM would not alone be enough for Galactic to legally begin offering prediction markets for SI and TIME. FCMs must be partnered with a CFTC-approved Designated Contract Market (DCM) for their prediction market offerings. For example, Robinhood is an FCM that offers prediction markets from Kalshi, a DCM that handles the basic back-end trading and clearing functions.
Galactic’s Predictor LLC applied with the NFA for membership and to become both a registered swap firm and introducing broker. If approved as an introducing broker, Galactic could partner with an FCM to facilitate the markets on its SI and TIME prediction platforms, provided the FCM is also partnered with a DCM.
Predictor LLC’s applications with the NFA were submitted in early November and are all shown as “pending” in the NFA’s portal. It’s unclear if or why Predictor LLC didn’t just apply for FCM status directly with the NFA.
SI Predict stopped offering contract trading on July 29, shortly after the FCM partnership announcement. The site now says the markets are being rebuilt for a “next-gen SI Predict.” It seems likely that Galactic is trying to get all of its regulatory ducks in a row prior to relaunching SI Predict and taking the TIME prediction market product live.
TIME, SI markets to use crypto for trading
Provided the regulatory puzzle is adequately solved, the SI and TIME prediction markets could prove appealing to the readers of those media outlets, as well as others. The markets would operate on cryptocurrency, something that has helped Polymarket attract a lot of traders worldwide.
All trading on SI Predict used USDC, the stablecoin pegged to the value of the U.S. dollar. In the FAQ section, it says that SI Predict “is designed to be friendly to everyone, even if you’ve never used a blockchain before.” During signup, users are walked through the steps of creating and connecting crypto wallets.
SI Predict uses MoonPay, which converts credit/debit card and bank transfer deposits into USDC to use for trades.
