Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has called for a transformation in the focus of prediction markets, urging a shift from speculative activities to serving as financial hedging infrastructure. Buterin criticized the current emphasis on short-term cryptocurrency price predictions and sports betting, which he argues rely on "naive traders" losing money, thus failing to provide long-term social value. Buterin suggests that prediction markets should be utilized for broader hedging purposes, such as managing political risks for investors and customizing future spending baskets for individuals and institutions. This approach would involve prediction markets targeting various goods and services price indices, potentially replacing traditional fiat stablecoins and monetary systems with a new financial infrastructure based on assets like Ethereum, integrating both return and risk management functions.