Spotify removes fake streams from chart-topping single after discovering suspicious Kalshi betting incident

CoinFeed July 3 news, according to Bloomberg, music streaming platform Spotify removed over 500,000 fake streams from musician Malcolm Todd's song 'Earrings', which had unexpectedly been pushed to the top of the charts. Spotify's investigation found that the streaming manipulation was linked to betting activity on prediction markets — traders on the Kalshi platform bet on which song would be the most-streamed song on Spotify in the U.S. in June, a market that attracted $3 million in trading volume. Kalshi had declared Todd the winner and settled the market based on the manipulated data before Spotify completed its investigation. After discovering the issue, Spotify has asked Kalshi and Polymarket to remove its logo and clarify that there is no partnership. Kalshi said it is cooperating with the investigation, while Polymarket did not respond.