IPredict

iPredict provided a wide variety of contracts including many New Zealand political stocks, elections in other countries including the United States, Australia, Britain, Japan, Germany, Brazil, Italy and Spain. They also provided markets in financial market outcomes, economic indicators in New Zealand, and other leading international economies. There were also stocks related to International Relations, and Science and Technology. Anyone was free to make a suggestion for a stock in the website's forum. == Fees ==

iPredict charged a Trading Fee of $0.0050 per share traded (50 cents per 100 shares traded). The Trading Fee was capped at 5% of any trade's gross cash value, and capped at $5 per month per user. There was a 1.75% fee on credit card deposits. Users could also make a manual bank deposit which incurs no fee. There was a withdrawal fee of 4% or $2 (whichever is greater) which is levied on withdrawals, but only if a trader has positive earnings on iPredict. Each trading persona was expected (under the stated rules) to control only one account on iPredict, with limited funds of up to $2,500 per six monthly period able to be deposited in each account. == Legal status and technical problems ==

Under the New Zealand Gambling Act 1993, only the New Zealand Lotteries Commission and the TAB are permitted to accept bets by internet or phone. However, iPredict is authorised by the New Zealand Securities Commission as an authorised futures dealer, so is therefore lawful. This has been met with opposition from the Problem Gambling Foundation. In 2012 the website was hit by a run of technical problems, causing it to operate at greatly reduced speeds and go offline for a number of days at a time on at least two occasions. This caused problems for iPredict commercially for its deal with Exceltium. By 2014, and during the leadup to the general election, the approximately weekly reports on the status of the political contracts were reported as at a random time by Exceltium, on a pro bono basis. Exceltium is a Wellington-based corporate and public affairs consultancy, majority owned by right-wing political lobbyist, Matthew Hooton. The gaming of iPredict by National Party members was specifically noted by Nicky Hager in his book "Dirty Politics", which was released in August 2014. == Closure ==

On 26 November 2015, iPredict announced it would be winding up its New Zealand operations. Subsequent to the closure notice date, no new funds or traders were allowed onto the iPredict site, but it continued to operate within the pool of existing accounts and funds still invested, for twelve months. This placed some doubt on its accuracy in predicting the outcomes of political events, for example. On the evening of 30 November 2016, all trading was suspended, and traders were informed through a website notice, the option of withdrawing funds remaining in their account, or donating the funds to Victoria University. iPredict reported exploring the possibility of "transferring our prediction activities to be included on PredictIt in the US". ==See also==