Senators propose ban on US gov’t officials doing prediction market trading

Two Democratic Senators, Jeff Merkley and Amy Klobuchar, are introducing a bill to ban members of Congress, the president, vice president, and other executive branch officials from trading event contracts on prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket. The proposed legislation aims to prevent individuals with confidential government information from exploiting their access for financial gain. This action follows instances where anonymous bettors profited significantly on Polymarket by correctly predicting events like the US strike on Iran and the attempted abduction of Venezuela’s president. If passed, violators would face fines of at least $10,000 per violation and be required to return any profits made. Klobuchar stated the bill strengthens the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's ability to pursue misconduct in prediction markets.

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