The post Polymarket renames Artemis II explosion bet after backlash appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Polymarket has renamed its “Artemis II explodes?” market after outraged critics branded the company as “evil” and suggested that it could lead to the mission being intentionally sabotaged. The prediction market first featured the controversial bet on January 20 as part of its series related to NASA’s Artemis II launch and it has so far pulled in over $81,000 in trading volume.  Users on X, however, voiced their distaste after Citations Needed podcast host Adam Johnson claimed that markets “wagering on people dying should not be legal!” Aerospace engineering professor Dr Chris Combs said, “The fact that there could now be a financial incentive to sabotage a crewed space mission is pretty dystopian.”  Others noted the incentive and claimed that it could see “prediction markets turn into assassination markets.” Read more: Polymarket faces backlash over ‘sick’ California wildfire markets In response to Johnson’s first post, Polymarket said, “To clarify: this was a market about a potential booster-stage rupture — a defined hardware failure scenario — not about the Orion crew capsule or astronaut safety.” It added, “This was not a market on crew injury or loss of life.” However, this response wasn’t well received and some called Polymarket a “truly evil company.” Others, meanwhile, told the person behind the post to quit their job and stop working for an indefensible firm. Some users took Polymarket’s logic to highlight how ridiculous it sounds. One user said, “I would like to bet on whether your social media team’s vehicles suffer brake failures — a defined hardware failure scenario. This would not be a market on team injury or loss of life.”   Eventually, Polymarket changed the name of the market to the more tasteful “Artemis II booster rupture?” It noted, “This market’s language has been updated for clarity.” Houston, we have a problem…

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Filed under: News - @ February 16, 2026 3:29 pm